


Overcoming a Legacy

by DramaticGarbage



Series: Overcoming a Legacy [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Eventual Prinxiety, High School AU, M/M, Prinxiety - Freeform, divorce mention, food/eating mention, the occasional cuss word - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-11-06 01:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 40,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17930084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaticGarbage/pseuds/DramaticGarbage
Summary: Virgil is new to this high school, he hopes to make some friends at the very least. But one of them may have a lot more on their plate than he realizes.





	1. The first day

This was exactly what Virgil needed. To be the new kid in the middle of the school year. He had enough on his plate with leaving his friends behind, him and his mom moving out of the house he had grown up in, and having to learn an unfamiliar town... He wasn’t exactly excited to add “new weird emo kid in school with no friends” to that list.  

Regardless, seeing as he didn’t have any other choice in the matter, he walked into his new school that Monday morning, nervously rechecking his class schedule for what was probably the four thousandth time, wanting to make sure he found his class without messing that up and getting lost. Luckily enough almost all of his classes were on the same side of school, he assumed that was just where they kept the majority of the freshmen? And he did his best to wander around and get an idea of where he’d need to be that day before the bell rang for the classes to start. 

Despite being as nervous about this as he was about... Well, most things, if he was being honest. He made it all the way to lunch time with no real issues. He hadn’t exactly been a fan of his first couple teachers bringing him up in front of the class and introducing him, but at least now he got a break. Virgil navigated the lunch area well enough, looking for somewhere he could sit. Luckily enough, he found an empty table and sat there, pulling out his bag lunch and vaguely picking at his food when he heard a cheery voice and looked up. 

“Oh! Hello there! I’ve never seen you around before, are you new?” The boy in front of him asked, looking down at him with a smile from where he stood. 

“Uh.. Yeah. Hi. It’s my first day. Umm.. Is this your table? I can move if someone else is sitting here.” He replied awkwardly. 

“Oh, you’re really new! Welcome, I guess! And you can definitely stay as long as you don’t mind me sitting here with you, I’m usually the only one who sits here.” The boy explained, settling down across from him, still smiling wide and showing off a mouth full of braces.

“Yeah, of course. Thanks.” He responded, returning a small smile. 

“Sure thing! So you’re new? You’re also 100% invited to sit here with me for lunch from now on if you like! My friends have the other lunch, so it’s just me here for now. Aw, I’m sure you’d like them too! They’re really nice and...” He started to go on, Virgil realizing that this boy was definitely a talker. 

Virgil zoned out a bit of the long explanation he was giving him about the school and the classes and countless other things, taking a moment to look him over. He was definitely on the shorter and chubbier side, wearing what appeared to be a soft sweater that was maybe a size or so too big for him. His cheeks were round and dotted with a few freckles here and there, as well as some across the bridge of his nose. His hair was a bit all over the place, a deep chestnut brown pile of messy curls atop his head. Virgil also definitely noticed that behind a thick pair of glasses with brightly colored frames, he had big green eyes that lit up when he spoke. 

Oh. Crap. He was still talking. He tuned back in at the realization, hoping the fact that he had not been listening didn’t come back to bite him. “-know that’s a little bit weird... Sometimes my friends actually call me Pua! Which is still kind of weird.. But it’s kinda funny at least!” ...Oh no. He’s just said his name.Virgil literally  _just_ missed his name. The first person who had spoken to and had taken time to be kind to him, and he had no idea what his name was despite having been told it 3 seconds ago.

Virgil realized that since Pua, was he really going to refer to this human being as an animated pig?, had stopped talking, he should probably chime in. “...Pua? Like from Moana?” 

“Yeah! We were watching the movie and it was just kind of a funny little joke.” He laughed. “But what’s your name? I’m sorry, I guess I got caught up in my story!” 

“Oh, it’s no problem, uh.. I’m not much of a talker. So.. that’s fine with me. Um.. I’m Virgil. But, uh, you can call me Virge.” He said, mind still reeling from the fact he now had to find out this person’s name... Or at least play it off somehow. Potentially for the rest of his high school life, if he had to.

“Virge! That’s a cool name!” Pua, seriously, that’s a cartoon pig, answered with a smile. Before Virgil could respond, the bell rang to alert them that it was time to head to class. 

“Uh.. Thanks. Well it was nice to meet you, uh... Pua.” Virgil said, a bit lamely as he stood and grabbed his bag. The boy gave him a bit of a weird look, clearly not having expected him to go with the nickname. Virgil had to come up with the cover story, right now. “...That’s ok to call you, right? Um.. You did say that’s what your friends call you..” he trailed off, giving a slightly hopeful lift to the end of his sentence. 

His eyes lit up, smiling from ear to ear as he realized what Virgil was saying. “Of course! Because we’re friends now too! I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch, Virge!” He responded happily, nearly skipping off to class. 

Well.. That took care of that, for now at least. Hopefully he would manage to figure this out sometime soon... 

As it turns out, he did not. He and his new friend ate lunch together everyday. But they didn’t have classes together, they never studied together, no one ever came up and greeted them, no teachers walked by and said hello, nothing. They had exchanged phone numbers, and guess who entered their’s under their nickname while giggling? That’s right. His only friend. The one he had to call “dude,” “pal,” and “friend” if he didn’t want to refer to him as a cartoon character. 

Pua, he was never going to get over that silly name, had invited him to hang out over the weekend or after school a few times, wanting him to be able to meet his friends and hopefully them all clicking as a little group. Virgil would have loved that, seeing as he was sure that two other people couldn’t consistently refer to him by a nickname at all times, but he still had no such luck. 

He had to hurry home pretty quickly after school each day to help his mom, she had started working as soon as they moved out here, so he had to hurry home and start on dinner for the two of them. They also spent the majority of the weekend still unpacking or going out to get more things for the house, so he tended to be busy. 

That was how he had managed to go they entirety of the rest of the school year without having learned his friend’s actual name. Better luck next year? Hopefully? 


	2. A breakthrough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of sophomore year... Will Virgil get any closer to figuring out his dilemma?

Summer was a welcome break for Virgil. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his new school, but what kid didn’t prefer vacation to being stuck in class? His friend texted him, inadvertently reminding him once again that he only had made one friend and it was now far too late to just ask him his name, to see if now that they were on break they’d be able to hang out and Virgil could finally meet his other friends. 

Virgil wanted to, he honestly did. Despite having the ulterior motive of hoping that meeting them would help him discover Pua’s actual human name, he really did want to make more friends. And whenever he wasn’t distracted by the fact that if he had simply been paying attention on that first day he wouldn’t be in this situation right now, he really did enjoy spending time with him. He was pretty high energy and had some hobbies and interests that weren’t really Virgil’s thing, but that didn’t make him any less of a really great friend. 

Unfortunately for that wish, the same thing that had brought him to this school and town in the first place was the thing keeping him away during the summer. The agreed upon decision, at least until Virgil was a bit older and maybe could have a little choice in the matter, was that while he spent the school year with his mom, he would spend the summer and a few weekends here and there back in his old town with his dad. 

While this didn’t help him make new friends, it at least allowed him to catch up with old ones. It was nice to see his old buddies again… And he definitely lamented to them about his current predicament. They shared some laughs about it, his friends finally helping him find some humor in the ridiculousness of it and lift his spirits. A couple of them did ask what the problem was with just using the nickname, and Virgil was quick to explain that he had definitely been told the name, he just missed it. And judging by the surprise his friend had had when he used the nickname, he really didn’t expect him to go for that one. He had no problem using whatever name his friend preferred… But everything he had been able to glean thus far definitely pointed to that name not actually being Pua. Once that understanding had been reached, they offered a few suggestions to try and help him find the answer he was looking for. As the suggestions began to move into ridiculous territory, they simply laughed and moved on, spending the summer as carefree as Virgil was capable of being. 

Him and his new friend still texted periodically over the summer, generally when one of them saw something that reminded them of the other. And seeing as being a teenager in summer meant spending a fair amount of bored time at the mall, that was fairly common. Especially with one of them being a Tim Burton-esque emo and the other with the name of a Disney character… They had a lot to go on. 

But soon enough, summer ended, Virgil said goodbye to his dad and his friends for the time being and headed back home to his mom. That last weekend of summer was spent shopping for school supplies and a few new pairs of skinny jeans, as the first thing his mom pointed out after giving him a hug to welcome him home was how he had definitely grown out of his current pair. 

So it looked like reuniting with his friend would have to wait until school. He had been running a little late that first morning back, adjusting from a summer sleep schedule was never easy, and had to rush to his first class, barely slipping in the door before the tardy bell rang. He glanced around the room, seeing that he didn’t really recognize anyone in the class, but that didn’t bother him. …At first. He did happen to remember that last year he and Pua, a human and not an animated pig, had been the only two of his friends with that lunch period. What if he was alone all day, even including lunchtime? Oh he didn’t like that idea at all. 

With a new thing to worry about, he found he hadn’t paid attention for most of his first class, only realizing he had been staring at pretty much nothing for the majority of it when the bell rang to dismiss them. He really needed to work on that. Oh well. Later. 

Tossing his minimal things back in his bag, he stood and left the room with the rest of his class. His next one was only a few doors down, so he was one of the first to slip inside and grab a seat. He pulled out his notebook and began to absently doodle in it when he heard a sharp intake of breath and hurried footsteps approaching. He had barely glanced up when he saw the excited form of another student in the seat right beside him.

“Virge!” His friend’s face had absolutely lit up, his mouth spread in his trademark toothy grin. 

Virgil took half a second to register before smiling in return. “Oh! Hey!” 

“We have a class together! That’s so great! Oh, I’m so excited!” He was nearly bouncing with said excitement, which Virgil couldn’t help but find endearing.

“Yeah, definitely. This is going to be really cool.” He smiled, watching as his friend began pulling out his notebook as well. He hadn’t seemed to have changed much over summer, still a fairly small and soft person wrapped up in something that just didn’t seem to fit him quite right. Virgil had noticed that over the course of last year as well, the majority of his clothes just seemed too big for him, but he didn’t really know if that was an alright topic to bring up. So he hadn’t. 

They chatted idly about summer until class began, the teacher having come in at one point without their notice. Once the bell rang and they all looked to the front of the room again, the teacher was already standing there, leaning against the board. She began a fairly standard introduction, explaining about roughly what they’d be doing in this creative writing class and what she was going to expect from them. Once that was over, she grabbed a clipboard and mentioned she’d be taking role call before starting in on it.

Virgil nearly choked on a gasp that had tried to escape. Role call. This was perfect. What an easy solution. This would solve everything. All he had to do was listen and see when his friend called here. It was just. So. Perfect. He looked down, going back to aloofly doodling in his notebook, trying to ensure that no one could tell how intensely he was paying attention to this list of names. He was focusing so hard on committing each name to memory incase his friend chimed in that he nearly missed his own. He caught it after a moment, rushing to raise his hand and call out “Here!” before going back to lazily dragging his pencil around. 

They were getting toward the end of the list and Pua, hopefully this would be the last time he had to fall back on that name, still hadn’t chimed in. Finally, the teacher paused, letting out a light chuckle, causing Virgil to look up to see what was going on. 

“Another one? I’m surprised.” She said, mostly to herself, but the class definitely heard it. Her eyes flicked up and she scanned the classroom, seeming to be looking for someone. Virgil swore he heard a quiet groan from his friend, before the teacher spoke again. 

“Prince, Roman?” 

“Here.” 


	3. The tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's explain that title, shall we?

Virgil couldn’t help but notice that Roman, god it was such a relief to no longer have to stress about that whole name thing anymore, was in a bit of an off mood for the rest of class. His normally cheery friend had wilted a bit ever since the teacher’s comment. She hadn’t focused much more on it besides giving a bit of a surprised expression as her eyes fell on Roman, then continuing on with role call. Virgil wasn’t exactly sure how to go about this from this point forward. He should… Comfort him? He was obviously unhappy. But Virgil also didn’t exactly know the problem. They had lunch after this class, so hopefully he’d be able to figure something out. 

The two of them left class with the rest of their classmates when the bell rang, walking in relative silence as they made their way to their usual lunch table. For the first time, however, it wasn’t deserted. Two other boys were sitting there, talking as they walked up. They turned as Roman and Virgil approached, realization dawning on both of their bespectacled faces. 

“Oh! You must be Virge! We’ve heard so much about you!” One of them said, popping up immediately to give the surprised emo a greeting hug. 

Virgil had not at all been expecting that, even Roman wasn’t quite this excitable. “Uh, Oh. Yeah, umm. Hello.” He stammered, bringing up an arm to hug him very lightly in return. 

“Patton, let him breathe.” The other boy interjected, his voice much more monotone in comparison to the others. 

The first one, Patton apparently, let go and stepped back slightly from Virgil. “Sorry! I just got so excited to meet you! Ro has told us so much about you!” Ro? So meeting them really would have solved his issue from before. 

“…It’s alright. Just, uh, surprised me, is all.” He responded, watching as Patton moved to sit back down next to the calmest one of the group. 

“Hello, Virgil. I’m Logan and this is Patton. It’s nice to make your acquaintance.” Logan added, nodding slightly in greeting. 

“Yeah, uh, likewise.” Virgil nodded in return, already having a feeling he and Logan would get along rather well. 

That was when attention turned back to Roman, who had sat down silently, pulling out his lunch and just absent-mindedly poking at it, still obviously a bit off. Virgil turned to look at the other two, seeing them greatly concerned for their friend. 

It was almost strange to see such a similar look of worry on two vastly different faces. Logan was built long and lean, his features already fairly sharp. He had steel gray eyes and dark hair, combed precisely into place. In contrast, Patton seemed to exist somewhere between Roman and Logan. He was definitely not as tall as Logan, but Virgil knew from that hug he’d received that he wasn’t as small as Roman was. He did have similarly fluffy hair and bright eyes, but in sandy blonde and shining blue. The last thing Virgil noticed before someone broke the silence was that they each wore glasses, but they were all very different. He’d grown used to the red-framed ovals that Roman wore, but Logan’s were black, rectangular, and quite practical, which seemed to suit Virgil’s initial impression of him. Patton’s were round and made of thin shiny metal… What was that color called? Rose gold? Something like that?

“…Roman? What’s wrong?” Patton asked, turning to their small friend with concern in his voice. 

He responded only with a vague, noncommittal sound, not looking up from his lunch. Patton turned to Logan who was looking over Roman with calculating eyes for a few moments longer before he flicked his gaze to Virgil. 

“So, Virgil. How has your day been thus far? Anything… Interesting happen?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Virgil wasn’t sure why the attention had suddenly been put on him… But then he got it. Logan was a genius. 

“….Good. Ro and I actually have the class right before this one together, so that’s really cool. …Teacher is a little bit weird though.” He intensified his gaze slightly, hoping Logan could read between the lines. 

He didn’t actually need to, as Roman responded to the comment with a grumbling little huff of breath, obviously in agreement. Patton picked up on that immediately. 

“What happened with the teacher, Ro?” He asked, turning back to him with concern. 

“Nothing.” Roman grumbled, still not looking up from his food.

“It was the name thing, wasn’t it? This happened on the first day last year too.” Patton said, his expression only getting more sympathetic. 

“…Maybe.” He was clearly embarrassed, and Virgil was completely lost. He started to worry that his name was a sore subject and maybe he just should have stuck to the Pua thing and… Well, wait. Logan and Patton were calling him by his name. So that couldn’t be the issue, right? 

Virgil looked back to Logan, hoping for some potential clarification on what was happening. Logan exhaled and adjusted his glasses before speaking. “Roman is the youngest of a fairly large family, and he doesn’t enjoy being compared to them. Generally at least a few of his teachers have taught one, if not multiple, of his older siblings, which gives them a predisposed opinion of him.” He explained, Roman grumbling slightly. 

Virgil still wasn’t sure he completely understood what the issue was entirely. That definitely sucked, but why was it making him this upset? “…Are they, like, mean people?” He asked, looking around the group. 

Roman finally picked his head up with a sigh, sliding his food back into his lunch bag and then tossing that back into his backpack. “…Come on. Let’s give Virge the tour.” He said, slinging his bag on his back and standing. 

Patton and Logan seemed to understand what this meant, also moving to get up. Virgil, shockingly, still had no idea what was going on. But he stood as well, following along as Roman lead them off. 

He had no idea where they were going, but he walked just behind Roman, flanked by Patton and Logan. They first stopped at the small auditorium, Roman sighing and pointing through the small window in the door. Virgil peaked inside, not sure what he was supposed to be looking at. Luckily the space was fairly empty, and the only thing of interest in the room was a large banner on the wall across from the door. Apparently this was where they listed the names of the Valedictorians every year, Virgil’s eyes skimmed over the names until he reached the second to last one, from two years prior. R. Prince. 

He turned curious eyes on Roman, who looked back up at him, expression bored. “Oldest brother. Ray.” 

He turned on his heel, leading them down another hallway and turning a few corners until they reached the arts area, bringing Virgil right infront of an enormous and beautiful mural. His eyes were completely transfixed, taking it in for several moments in all it’s immaculate detail until he found a small plaque next to it with an inscription. “This gorgeous mural was hand painted here by first place winner of the campus wide art design contest: R. Prince.” 

Virgil turned to Roman once again. He wore the same bored expression as he did the previous time. “Next brother, Ronnie.” And yet again, he set off in another direction for the three of them to follow after him. 

Their final stop was the gym, a peak through the window revealing the huge hanging pennants that listed a few MVPs for the previous year’s varsity sports teams. Of course, he found the name R. Prince listed… On four of them from the previous year. Football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. 

This time he was confused, how could he have a sibling who played that many sports? But Roman explained with a long sigh. “The twins. Rufus and Russell.” He seemed a bit exasperated and leaned against the wall of the gym, sliding down to sit on the ground. “Four older brothers, all great at something. The best, even. And… Then there’s me.” 

Virgil could see both Patton and Logan gearing up to disagree. Patton’s adorable face screwed up in anger, ready to fight his friend for being mean to his friend, and Logan seeming to be drawing in a breath to go on what was likely a very lengthy thought. But before they could, Roman cut them off. 

“I know you’re going to try and disagree with me. But even if there was something I was good at, which there isn’t, it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to be another R.Prince! I just want to be me!” He said, looking up at his two long time friends. 

Patton and Logan both seemed speechless, they just didn’t have any idea how to respond to that. No amount of facts or encouragement they would be able to come up with were really going to be the solution to that one. 

Virgil took a step forward, right in front of Roman. “Roman. You’re you. You aren’t them. Nothing is going to change that. And… So what if you’re not good at anything? I’m not either. So if we’re going to be talentless… At least we have each other?” Virgil offered, realizing toward the end of his little speech that that wasn’t the most uplifting thing he could have said and was immediately starting to wonder if he’d actually made things worse. 

Roman just looked up at him for a few moments before he just started to chuckle, unable to hold back a smile. “…I guess as long as I’m not alone.. That does make me feel a little better. Thanks, Virge.” 

Virgil smiled in return as the worry melted away, holding out his hand to help his friend up from the ground. Roman took it, allowing him to help him back to his feet. Once he was up, they realized they still had each other’s hand… And they were standing fairly close together. Virgil decided now might be the least weird time to try that whole “comforting” thing he had considered earlier. Shyly, he lifted his other arm slightly, offering him a hug. Roman smiled a bit wider and took the invitation, moving forward to hug him back before letting out a content sigh as he took comfort in the contact.

Once that little adventure had concluded, Roman able to shake some of those negative feelings and relax, they had a fairly good first day of school. They made it through the rest of their classes, all heading home and vowing to actually start hanging out on the weekends and after school. Virgil was glad to announce he was fully moved in after all that time, so he would actually be able to join in.

Virgil found himself laying in bed that evening, thinking about all that had happened that day. He had learned a lot. …None of it was school related, not really. It was pretty much all about Roman. The mystery of his name had been solved after having dealt with that stress for over 6 months at this point, and he’d finally met Patton and Logan. He really hadn’t expected all of the drama with Roman’s family, that seemed like a lot that his friend had to deal with, but he was glad that they had been able to help him. Especially that he’d actually been the one who had made him smile again.

Roman had such a genuine smile, now that Virgil was thinking about it. And he smiled all the time, but it never seemed less real than any other time. He was so joyful and passionate, friendly and kind… Virgil had even hugged him today. He wasn’t normally one for physical contact, but hugging Roman had felt… Nice. Patton’s surprise hug hadn’t been awful, but it certainly hadn’t been like the comforting one he’d shared with Roman. The small boy fit so perfectly under his arms and his head ended up just below his chin. He was so soft too, definitely a plus when it came to hugs.

…Why was he thinking on this so much? His thoughts were so fixated on his small, sweet, cute friend. With his infectious laugh and sparkly green eyes, who apparently gave really good hugs. He definitely wouldn’t be opposed to doing that more often. He definitely would… Oh. Oh god. This was…. Oh crap.


	4. Friends are weird

Virgil had an entirely new host of things to deal with now… How was he supposed to handle this sudden development? Maybe.. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he thought. He could deal with this, right? He hadn’t figured it out until he’d gotten home and was by himself. So… when he got to school the next day, things would be fine. 

The next day came much faster than he anticipated, him not having completely finished convincing himself he’d be able to play this off by the time he had to leave, but at least he managed to get to campus early and meet up with his new little group where they spent time in the morning. Logan and Patton were already there, Patton excitedly telling Logan about.. He wasn’t quite sure to be honest. From what he could tell as he got closer, it was literally everything. Virgil honestly didn’t think he’d ever meet anyone with as much energy as Roman, but Patton was on his very own level. As he walked up and joined them, Patton paused and turned to him, smiling excitedly and starting to ask him questions about how his first day had gone. 

Virgil was able to relax, calming and talking to his two very new friends a bit, almost having forgotten about his little… Predicament. Almost.

“Good morning, friends!” Came that specific cheery voice. All three of them turned to see Roman joining them, trademark adorable grin that showed off all his braces, shining green eyes behind his glasses… Shit. He was still adorable. So very adorable.

“Morning, Roman.” Logan greeted as Patton immediately pulled him into a hug, playfully rubbing his face against Roman’s fairly wild curls.

“It’s our fluffy little Pua!” Patton giggled before pulling away so Roman could reach up and mostly fail to try and fix his hair.

“Hey, Ro.” Virgil gave a lame little wave, trying not to look at any part of him for too long. Was he really going to be this awkward? Lord. 

Roman was laughing as he somewhat patted his hair back down and then look back up at his friends, easily joining the conversation. 

Ok. All Virgil had to do was be chill for the rest of his life. He could do that. He was chill. So chill. …Who was he kidding he was the least chill person on Earth and he was completely doomed. 

The bell rang, one of the few things that always managed to let Virgil know he had zoned out again, but he and his friends simply grabbed their things and started to head toward their classes. They all went off in the same direction until Patton broke off from the group first to head upstairs, and then Roman who had to turn down a different hallway. This just left Virgil and Logan, walking quietly side by side until they both turned to the same door. The two boys shared small smiles and walked in together, Logan choosing a desk that was closer to front and center than Virgil would have liked, but he didn’t mind as long as he had someone. 

He pulled out his notebook, starting to doodle a bit and then glanced over at Logan who had a large color coded notebook and a journal, first taking down everything written on the board once he’d opened to a specific section that was obviously dedicated to the subject. Virgil already knew this class was going to be a fairly rough on him, it was math after all, so the fact that he was sitting next to Logan was already making him feel a lot better. 

As class began, Virgil saw Logan diligently write down any bit of pertinent information said by the teacher, his handwriting somehow so effortlessly perfect. His own notebook was mostly doodles, so he could only hope that Logan would be a good influence on him… Or at least be willing to be his study buddy. 

The class ended on some assigned practice problems, Virgil jotting down which ones they were under his doodles and seeing that Logan had finally opened that side journal he pulled out. It seemed he had drawn a perfect chart on the first several pages. There were five columns, the first of which took up the majority of the width of the page, with the last four each rather small. The large one was labeled “Assignments”, while the small ones were marked “A”, “D”, “C”, and a check mark. 

He opened his mouth to ask what that all stood for, but class was dismissed and both boys slid their school supplies back into their bags and walked out of the room. They departed in different directions from there, neither having anything interesting about their next classes to report, and just met back up with each other and their two other friends at lunch. 

As soon as all four of them had arrived, Patton was excitedly pulling a large Tupperware container out of his backpack. 

“I had wanted to get these done and bring them yesterday to celebrate our first day back to school, but my parents didn’t get a chance to take me to the store until last night. So… One day late, but i made treats!” He said excitedly, opening it to reveal a decent number of cookies and brownies. 

“Yessss. Pat you are the best! Thank you!” Roman’s eyes had lit up, immediately reaching in to take a brownie.

“No problem! I made the extra chocolate ones, I know they are your favorite!” Patton said happily as Roman dug in with gusto. “Virge, I didn’t know what your favorite was, but I promise I’ll make them special next time.” Patton explained, seeming a little bit sad.

Virgil quickly shook his head, happily taking a chocolate chip cookie. “Don’t worry about me, Pat. These are my favorite. Thank you.” He said, smiling as he took a bite.

“Oh yay! I’m so glad! Mine too!” Patton said excitedly, grabbing a cookie to playfully toast with him, giggling all the while. He then reached back into his backpack, giving Logan a playful look. “Don’t worry, Lo.. I didn’t forget you.” He said with a slightly mischievous grin. 

“Patton, you know I’m not a fan of-“ Logan caught sight of what Patton held in his hand and immediately reached for it. “…Thank you, Patton.” He said, a bit more quietly. 

Virgil watched the exchange, still nibbling on his cookie. Logan had immediately set upon attempting to open what it was he had been handed. It was a jar?

“Whatcha got there, Lo?” Virgil asked, cocking his head. Both Patton and Roman giggled as Logan blushed slightly. 

“…It is a jar of jelly. Crofters, to be exact.” He didn’t quite look up at him, still focusing on attempting to get the jar open. 

“It’s Lo’s absolute favorite! They don’t have it everywhere, but they do at the grocery store by my house!” Patton said happily. 

“…Oh. Alright, uh, cool.” Virgil was a bit surprised that his friend’s favorite treat was jam… But who was he to judge? He watched Logan finally give up on opening the jar, handing it back to Patton. Patton gave it a go, but he also just couldn’t get it open. He looked up at Virgil, softly gesturing it to him to give it a try. He had no belief he’d be able to do it, but he took it anyway, giving it a tap on the edge of the table like he’d seen him mom do, but no luck. He turned to Roman who sighed and took it, giving it a try for about two seconds, but he was the smallest of all of them, he sincerely believed he had no chance if none of them could. 

Just as Virgil was about to ask if maybe they should ask an aid, Roman stood from the table with the jar in hand. “….I got it. Just a second.” He said, reaching forward and grabbing two cookies before walking off. They sat near the gym, and they all watched as their smallest friend disappeared inside it. 

He reappeared after a moment, no longer having any cookies, but he still had the jar. As he sat down, he handed it over to Logan, him easily able to pop it open. Once again, Virgil opened his mouth to ask a question, but he was immediately distracted when Logan suddenly had a spoon in hand, seemingly from no where, and began to eat the jelly with absolutely nothing to go with it. 

…Having friends was weird. 


	5. A new assignment

Lunch came to an end, Virgil was pretty surprised at how much jelly Logan was able to stomach with only a spoon, but probably even moreso that Patton and Roman seemed completely unfazed by it. He didn’t finish off the jar, which seemed to have taken self restraint, and twisted the lid back on before placing it in Patton’s Tupperware container with the last of the brownies and cookies before it all went back into Patton’s backpack. 

Once again they were off, all heading in the same direction, waiting to see who would be the first to have to deviate from their path. But as they continued to make the same turns, Patton and Roman were getting increasingly more excited. When it turned out that they all, in fact, had their final class together, Virgil and Logan were surprised neither of them fainted. 

The two happy teens were bouncing with joy as they followed their two calmer friends into the classroom. Logan chose his seat without any sort of bother, the other three standing a moment to decide where they should all sit. Patton figured sitting in a square would make the most sense, they’d all be together and could talk pretty easily. 

Virgil now had a brand new predicament, because… Sitting next to Roman might cause a problem for his already existing issues with being able to focus. But that didn’t exactly mean he didn’t want that problem… But…

“…I’ll sit behind Logan. I don’t really like being in the front.” He said, quickly scooting into the seat. Patton and Roman were still deciding who should sit where, Virgil’s heart was racing, and Logan… He hadn’t been paying attention even slightly, simply writing his notes. 

“Mmm… I think I’ll sit next to Virge! I haven’t gotten to spend as much time with him!” Patton suddenly decided, smiling as he slid into the seat next to him, and Roman just took the seat in front of Patton, next to Logan. 

Virgil gave Patton a smile as he settled in next to him, somewhat relieved that this may have been the best choice. With Patton next to him, he should be able to focus a little better, right? …Why did he ever think he had luck? As he looked up at the board to start on the notes that Logan had been working on, he realized that right between him and his view of the front of the room… Was Roman. Greaaaat. 

Such was Virgil’s life for the next several weeks. Everyday seeing his friends. Everyday feeling like he rememorized every detail of Roman. Everyday hoping no one noticed. But it was because of this that he was always the first to tell if he got a haircut or if he wore something he didn’t usually, even if he didn’t comment on it. He didn’t manage the restraint when near the end of the semester Roman showed up, beaming from ear to ear, showing off his adorable toothy smile for all to see. 

“…Finally get the braces off, Ro?” Virgil asked with a smile, turning to the shorter boy. 

“Yeah! Yesterday!” He said, unable to contain his big goofy grin. 

“Aw! I’m so happy for you!” Patton said excitedly, bringing up his hands to clap happily. “You know what this means! We’re gonna have caramel brownies tomorrow to celebrate!” 

“ _Ohmygoshcaramelbrownies_?!” Roman gushed excitedly, looking at Patton with huge eyes.

Why was he so cute? It wasn’t fair. How could he have it this bad for him? He seriously had a crush on his best friend. Were they even best friends? He was pretty sure they were… Lord, he didn’t need things to get more complicated. 

Of course it was that day that the four of them sat down in their class to see the two most dreaded words in all of existence written on the board. Two words that struck fear into the hearts of students everywhere. 

Group Project.

This shouldn’t be so bad, he had three friends in this class. If they were groups of two, they’d be ok. Or a group of four. But what if it was three? Wouldn’t he be the one left out? They’d known each other longest.. It only made sense that he’d be the one excluded. Oh he wouldn’t be able to handle that. What if the groups were assigned and it didn’t even matter? What if… A hand softly landed on his shoulder and Virgil’s attention shot to the side of him to find the source of the touch.

Patton was looking at him with a smile, before making an exaggerated breathing in gesture, puffing up his chest and raising his shoulders before lowering them once again and blowing the air out. Virgil slowly breathed in, following Patton’s lead and slowly calming enough to smile at him in thanks. Patton gave him a little nod before mouthing “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.” Virgil nodded, trying to relax.

The teacher came up to explain the project and what they’d need to do for it, it actually wasn’t too difficult. A little research on an assigned topic, a poster board, a couple art elements, ending in a presentation. But that wasn’t what Virgil was worried about. The teacher ended the explanation with, “And I know no one likes group projects… So I’ll let you choose your groups.” Which earned nearly an entire class releasing the tension in their shoulders and exhaling held breaths, but Virgil wasn’t out of the woods yet. “And for the group size… How about three…” No no no no no no no n- “to five?” Oh thank god. “Find your groups and I’ll give you a little time to start planning amongst yourselves.” 

Roman had instantly turned back to face the center of their little square. “This is going to be so much fun! We can all work together and it’s going to be the best!” 

“Is everyone free this Saturday? We could more than likely finish it if we all sat down and dedicated the time.” Logan said plainly, also turning so they could all speak to each other. 

“…Lo, don’t we have like, two weeks to get it done?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Not when you work with Lo.” Patton and Roman both spoke up in unison, quickly giggling as they realized what they’d done. 

“…ah. Well.. I should be able to make Saturday work, I’ll just have to make sure with my mom.” Virgil shrugged. 

Patton’s face immediately lit up. “You know what we should dooooo?” He asked in a cheery sing-song tone.

Roman was right behind him, catching his drift immediately. “Yes! Yes yes yes!” 

The two of them turned to Logan with pleading eyes, silently begging. Logan only lasted a few moments before he sighed. “Fine. We can have a sleepover, but only if we get the work done.” 

“…I really need to get in on this unspoken language you all have, I feel like I have to always wait for Logan to explain.” Virgil added, amusement in his voice. 

 “Don’t worry, it’s very simple. They always want the same things.” Logan responded, giving one of his rare smirks. 

Patton gave a bit of a playful pout as Roman turned to Virgil with a slight eye roll for Logan. “Do you think that will be ok with your mom?” 

“Uh, I’ll have to ask her. …Where would we be staying over?” Virgil asked, looking over the group. 

“Patton’s.” Logan and Roman spoke up in unison, Patton just silently pointing to himself with a smile.

“….Ooookaaay.” He said, still needing to learn all of these little details. 

Luckily, as usual, Logan clarified. “Patton’s house is the most optimal, as far as size and parental supervision is concerned. My parents don’t appreciate excess noise or disorderliness.” 

“…And my house is actually a bit bigger than Patton’s, but… You know. It’s packed.” Roman shrugged. 

“Gotcha. So, uh… Text me Patton’s address and I’ll ask my mom tonight?” Virgil asked, Patton nodding excitedly as he pulled out his phone. 

They spent the rest of the period choosing the topic, Logan offering to procure the poster board and other necessary supplies to bring to Patton’s house. Once that was settled, all that they had to do was make sure they’d all be able to make it. 

Virgil made it home that evening, explaining the entire situation to his mom. She was happy to let him have a sleepover with his new friends, but the timeframe would be a little bit of an issue as far as dropping him off would go. He and his mom lived rather close to the school, but Patton apparently was a bit further away, and fairly deep into a dense suburban neighborhood. It would be a good bit out of the way for her to drop him off before she left for work that morning. 

He went to text his group chat with the three of them, explaining the issue. Roman was quick to pop in with a solution. 

“I live pretty close to Patton, but only a street or so from the main road, could your mom drop you off here in the morning instead? Then we could walk to Patton’s together, or my mom might drive us over.” He offered, giving Virgil his address as well so he could show his mom. 

So, with a new solution that was apparently enough of a compromise for his mother, and also somehow managed to stick him in a situation where he was suddenly going to be alone with Roman outside of school… He texted them all back. 

“Yeah, she says that’s fine. Uh.. See you in the morning.” 


	6. The Princes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who wants to meet some of Roman's problems?

If Virgil got any sleep that night, it was a miracle. He was going to Roman’s house in the morning. Then to a day of hanging out and a sleepover. Could someone please explain how this was his life? Seriously? 

He did apparently get some at least, seeing as he woke at the sound of the alarm he set to make sure he didn’t make his mom late for work. He quickly dressed himself, triple and quadruple checked his overnight bag as well as his backpack, then looked himself over in the mirror to make sure his hair wasn’t sticking up and that there was no drool on his face from sleep. He did not need that of that nonsense, especially today of all days. 

Virgil went out into the living room, seeing his mother still preparing her morning coffee, so at least he wasn’t holding her up. While he waited for her to get her travel cup ready, he grabbed his phone to send a quick text to Roman to let him know he was about to head over. They left only a few minutes later, speeding off toward the Prince’s.

He didn’t receive a text back, but he didn’t really think about it, his mind still reeling from what the day was going to hold for him. Before he realized, his mother had stopped the car in front of a huge house, double checking the address before turning to him to give him a quick hug and kiss goodbye. 

Virgil walked up the walkway, having to take a huge breath and steel his nerves to reach up to the door and knock on it. He wasn’t able to take as long as he normally would have liked to stress about doing something, seeing as his mother wasn’t going to drive away until he was safely inside. The door opened after a few moments, but instead of Roman standing on the other side, it was a slightly older blonde woman, looking down at him with a welcoming smile.

“Oh, you must be Virgil! Come on in, sweetheart.” She looked past him to see the car waiting in front of the house, giving a happy wave to Virgil’s mother, who waved in return before driving off. 

“Hello, um.. Thank you, Ma’am.” He said, a bit shyly as he followed her inside, closing the door behind them. 

“Oh, just Rose, please. Don’t worry about the formality.” She laughed lightly as she led him to the living room. Once she had, she turned back to the small teen. “So… Slight hiccup in the plan… Roman is actually still asleep. He sleeps like a little log, that boy. I’ll go get him, feel free to make yourself at home.” She gestured to the couch and multiple large recliners that made up their living room. There was something about the warmth of her smile, the familiar emerald color of her eyes… It really did help Virgil feel a little more relaxed.

“Ok, thank you.” He said softly, watching as she turned to head upstairs and he sat down on the couch, noting how small he felt sitting on the huge puffy cushions. Their house seemed to be centered around the living room, at least on this floor, with doorways to other rooms and the staircase all stemming off from it. It was definitely the biggest home he’d ever been in, and the furniture seemed to match. Just as he was considering the ridiculousness of the couch he was seated on, a sound from the kitchen grabbed his attention. 

He looked up, watching as an incredibly tall and fairly broad man came out of the kitchen and sat at the dining table, surprising him. His first thought was to wonder if this was Roman’s dad; his matching pajama set with it’s button up shirt and blue and white striped design, coupled with the plain glasses sitting low on his nose, definitely gave him that sense of being older. The man’s hair, which was the same warm chestnut color as Roman’s, was a little messy from sleep, he had clearly only recently gotten out of bed and was still working on waking up. There was an unmistakable aroma of coffee drifting from the plain mug he had set on the table as he began to read his newspaper. Virgil, in the midst of noticing all of these details, began to panic as he realized that he was definitely finding this man to be very attractive, and that was very very weird. Not only was he crushing so hard on Roman, but now he was finding someone who seemed to be his dad attractive as well. Which, as a whole, was pretty uncomfortable.

A knock on a door could be heard from upstairs, Virgil glancing to the staircase. He had at first assumed that Rose had been attempting to wake Roman, but then she began to speak. “Ronnie? Are you awake?”

“Yeah, what’s up, Mom?” A rather deep voice answered her back.

“I’m gonna go wake Ro, can you start on breakfast and I’ll come take over in a bit?” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

Virgil listened as her much lighter steps seemed to go further away from him, and then a door opened and noticeably heavier ones began to approach.

He was trying not to stare at the stairs to see the person who’d appear, but he couldn’t help it as his gaze fell on the new person. For the second time, he suddenly saw another far too tall and far too conventionally attractive man. This one was wearing a large, paint-splattered t-shirt and what seemed to be tight, faded sweatpants. Virgil’s eyes also caught in his dirty blonde hair, noting that while it was a more tamed version of Roman’s curls, there were also artful streaks of color running through it. As Ronnie walked towards Virgil, they met eyes for a moment, Virgil able to get a good look and notice that the shiny green color looked essentially identical to his crush’s, which just made him even more panicked. He cautiously kept watching as he moved past him and toward the kitchen, the dramatic sway of his hips really catching the teen’s eye. 

Ronnie and the man at the table glanced at one another and gave each other a silent greeting, simply a head nod, as the newcomer disappeared through the doorway and the older one went back to his paper. Virgil wasn’t having a good time with this, he already was stressed enough sitting in Roman’s house, but now all these model-esque men were appearing.

He heard another knock on a door, Rose’s soft voice accompanying it as she seemed to be trying to ease her youngest son to consciousness. “Romaaan… Romaaan…” She called, another door squeaking open. 

There were a few quiet moments before a sound that caused all three of them downstairs to crack an amused smile, one laugh escaping from the kitchen. “WHAT? IT IS? HE’S HERE?!” Accompanied by a thump that could only imply a certain small boy had fallen right out of bed in his haste to get up. 

Virgil calmed at that, going back to focusing on how much he enjoyed Roman. He was silly, sweet, and so perfectly himself. With a smile, he finally just went back to looking down at his phone, waiting for Roman to appear. 

It wasn’t long after that the smell of cooked bacon was wafting from the kitchen and throughout the home. It was a wonderful smell that had Virgil’s mind drifting off for a moment, but he was quickly jolted back to reality by loud noises coming from the upstairs hallway. Lumbering down the stairs and through the large, open space came two identical, muscular, and still exceptionally tall people. Virgil watched their strange movement, seeing that they were somehow a single unit rather than two people. They moved in sync as though they were operated by one brain, Virgil also noting that they were even wearing the exact same revealing muscle shirt and workout shorts. It was definitely something he’d never seen before outside of television or movies. They seemed to be following instinct rather than listening to that shared brain as they ignored everything else around them on their quest to the kitchen. 

“What are you two doing in here? Breakfast isn’t even close to done, get out.” Came Ronnie’s voice, clearly immediately exasperated by his brothers’ appearance. 

Virgil swore, as much as he wanted to believe he’d made it up, that all he heard in response was a grunt.

“Oh my god, you  _mindless fucking orcs._  Get. Out. There isn’t even anything ready!” 

There was silence, followed by a long dramatic sigh from Ronnie. 

“Fiiiine. Good lord, it’s no wonder you two are so goddamn massive. There. Now out!” 

The twins immediately exited the kitchen, each now with a strip of bacon they were munching on as they trudged back up the steps. …The memory of Roman taking two cookies into the gym at school suddenly making sense to Virgil as they disappeared from view.

Rose reappeared a moment later, smiling warmly at Virgil. “Roman will be down in just a minute!” She said as she walked past, glancing into the dining room as she made her way toward the kitchen. She stopped short as she looked over the man reading the newspaper. “Raymond Prince! How many times do I have to tell you to use a coaster?!” 

“Moooom.. It’s just a table.” He groaned and let head his fall back as he moved to grab a coaster to place his mug on. 

“It’s a nice table!” She countered as she left the dining room and went into the kitchen. 

…Realizing that that wasn’t Roman’s dad did make Virgil feel a bit better about finding him attractive… Not that he enjoyed thinking about the fact that Roman’s four brothers could each honestly be models if they wanted to. They were all so tall and broad, their features strong and sharp. Honestly if- 

A rapid pounding of feet came barreling down the stairs, Roman in such a hurry that he actually missed the last step and barely caught himself to avoid falling right on his face. His round cheeks were red with both embarrassment and from the effort of all the running he’d just done. He had apparently not yet tried to tame his hair from sleep, as it was absolutely all over the place, and his thick red glasses were completely askew. 

Warmth spread through Virgil’s chest as he saw him, his mouth instinctively curling up into a fond smile. He didn’t care, the others didn’t matter. He wanted that one. 


	7. Roman's morning

“Romaaan… Romaaan…” A soft voice called, Roman vaguely hearing it in his sleep but not stirring.

Rose made her way into the room, moving to sit on the edge of her youngest’s bed and place a hand on his shoulder, gently giving him a little shake. “Come on, Ro. Time to wake up.” 

Roman groaned, rolling away from her. “Nooo… 5 more minutes.” He mumbled into his pillow.

“Ro, it’s Saturday. Your friend Virgil is already here, he’s waiting for you downstairs.” She said, giving him another nudge to the shoulder. 

That got his attention. He bolted upright in bed, looking back at her with wide eyes. “WHAT? IT IS? HE’S HERE?!” Hadn’t he set an alarm? No no no, he needed to get his stuff together and now he was keeping Virgil waiting. 

Roman tried to rush out of his bed, but in his haste, and the fact he was attempting to avoid running into his mother, his feet tangled in his sheets and blankets, sending him tumbling to the  ground. He scowled as the jolt from hitting the floor finished completely waking him… And he swore he heard Ronnie laugh at him from downstairs. Great. 

Rose gave him a fondly exasperated smile and stood to help him get up. She also handed over his glasses from the nightstand so he didn’t end up hurting himself again in his rush. Once he started running around his room, she began to untangle the sheets that had tripped him, getting them smoothed out and remaking his bed for him.

It was during his mad dash to pack that the smell of bacon made it’s way up into his room, beginning a mental countdown. Three… Two… One. He heard one of the doors in the hallway swing open, his brothers’ footsteps moving toward the source of the smell. 

“Sounds like Ruff and Russ are up, right on schedule.” Rose laughed lightly, shaking her head in another bout of fond exasperation.

Roman couldn’t help but let out a little laugh, rummaging through his drawer to find something to wear for the day. 

“Oh, I wanted to ask you, sweetie. Did you want one of us to drive you over to Patton’s this morning? Or did you want to walk?” She asked, turning as she finished the bed and watching him move to the closet when the drawer apparently didn’t have anything he wanted. 

“We can walk, mom. It’s not far.” He answered, glancing at her to shrug before looking back to the closet and grabbing one of his usual too-big sweatshirts.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Rose smiled and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead before moving to his doorway. She paused, them both hearing the twins coming back toward the stairs. Deciding it would be easiest not to try and squeeze past them, she stalled a moment. Once they moved past her, after she reached up and fondly ruffled their hair as they went by, she slipped out the door and made her way downstairs. 

Roman finally started to change, slipping out of his pajamas and tossing them in the hamper. The sweatshirt slid on easily, which wasn’t a surprise, seeing as anything that had ever belonged to the twins was completely stretched out in the shoulders. His jeans were next, which he was a little more conflicted on when he took the time to think about it. On the one hand, he enjoyed having an article of clothing that had only ever been his. But on the other… He really only had his own jeans because he was too short and too wide for the hand-me-downs. …He decided now was not one of those times he would choose to think on it.

Quickly grabbing everything he had just gathered, Roman rushed out of his room and basically flew down the stairs. He caught the sight of Virgil as he neared the bottom, his heart skipping a beat as he saw him… Causing his foot to follow suit and skip right over a step. He barely managed to catch himself and somehow landed on the ground floor, standing upright. Even though he was in a bit of a daze, he knew his cheeks were bright red. He’d come so close to falling on his face right in front of Virgil… Which he never would have let himself live down. 

Now he and Virgil were looking at each other, Roman hoping he hadn’t just made a complete fool of himself in front of the cute emo. They locked eyes, him noticing that small smile on Virgil’s face and smiling back in return. He walked over to join him, smoothing his clothes out as he approached. 

“Hey! Sorry! I guess I slept through my alarm.” Roman apologized, seeming embarrassed and a bit sheepish that that was all he had to say. 

“It’s no problem. I’ve just been hanging out. …Uh, your mom is really nice. So it hasn’t been.. Like, weird or anything.” Virgil shrugged, looking back at him from his seat. “Umm.. Are we hanging out here for a bit or heading to Patton’s?” 

“We can just go, I’m sure Pat will want to hang out as soon as we can. And Lo is going to want to get started on this project as quickly as possible.” Roman laughed a bit, seeing that Virgil smiled in return and moved to stand. He grabbed his bag as he stood, Roman’s eyes trailing up to maintain eye contact. 

“Ro? Are you down here?” Rose called from the kitchen.

“Yeah!” He called back, giving a nod to Virgil to follow after him as he moved to head over to her. 

The two of them entered the large kitchen space, seeing Rose and Ronnie still making breakfast, her turning as they entered and her eyes moving over the small teens. “…You two can put your bags down, breakfast will still be a little bit.” 

“Mom, we can eat at Patton’s. We were just going to leave now.” Roman responded, just a hint of pleading in his voice. 

“We’re already making food over here, and there will be plenty for you two.” She gave him a bit of a look in response.

Roman let out a bit of a small pouting whine. “But mom… You know how Patton’s parents are, they’ll definitely have food for us either way. They’re just so nice.” 

“…They really are very sweet people. Alright, alright.” She gave in, moving over to ruffle Roman’s hair softly, actually smoothing it down into a more manageable place than it had been. “Oh! Wait just a moment. I just remembered, Vera loaned me a jacket that I need to return to her. Let me go grab it.” 

Roman gulped softly but nodded as his mother left the kitchen, leaving them alone with Ronnie. Seconds after she was out of sight, the smallest Prince felt a familiar weight pressing him down.

He glanced up, seeing Ronnie had perched his upper arm across the top of his head and was resting his cheek on his fist, looking at Virgil with a judging eye - not unlike he was inspecting a painting. 

“So,  _you’re_  the boy I’ve heard  _so_  much about?” He asked the emo, his pale cheeks instantly turning pink.

Roman instantly let out a pitiful groan. “Oh my god, Ronnie shut up!” 

The older boy only smirked harder, glancing down at the brother he had trapped under his arm. “Oh,  _what_? Is it a  _secret_? From as much as you’ve mentioned him I figured he just  _had_  to know…” 

“RONALD I SWEAR TO GOD.” 

“Ooo.. Munchkin pulling out the full names? Looks like I’ve hit a nerve…” He chuckled, still looking down at him. Roman huffed, reaching up to try and push his arm off of his head, but Ronnie responded only by putting more of his weight on him, holding him in place. “Oh, did you want me to move? But if I don’t keep pressing you down, how are you going to stay so cute? …Virgil, you like shorties, right? Because you’re welcome.” He smirked, glancing up at the bright red emo. 

Roman was pretty much willing himself to melt into the floor when they all heard Rose’s light quick footsteps approaching. Before either boy could react, Ronnie had lifted his arm with a soft laugh and grabbed his glass off the countertop. Just before he slipped out he shot the two of them a knowing smirk, speaking only loud enough for them to hear before he was gone like he’d never been there at all. “Have a good one, baby gays.”  

The two of them were completely stunned, but only had a split second before Rose had slipped back into the kitchen, holding a jacket. “Found it! Make sure this gets to Patton’s mom, alright?” She said with a smile, bending to tuck it into Roman’s bag before standing back up. 

She definitely noticed that both her youngest son and his friend were bright red… But decided against drawing attention to their embarrassment and simply pulled them both into a quick hug, smiling at both of them as she pulled back. “You two have fun, ok! If you need anything, just call me. And don’t forget to text me when you make it safely!” Her voice was cheery, matching her expression.

“..Uh.. Yeah. Will do, mom.” Roman nodded.

“…Thank you.” Virgil followed suit, simply nodding in response. 

Rose smiled and walked them to the front door, then standing and waving until they made it down the walkway to the sidewalk and turned, slowly leaving her line of vision from the house. 

The two walked quietly for a while. Silent might have actually been a better way to describe it. Roman was absolutely beyond mortified, and if he survived this sleepover he was definitely going to end his brother if given the chance. It was a bit of time before he finally just couldn’t take the awkward silence anymore.   

“…….I’m sorry. About, uh… You know. Ronnie is… Ronnie.” He managed, wishing that something more eloquent had come out of his mouth, but that was apparently all he was working with at the moment. 

To Roman, it seemed like Virgil took an eternity to respond, despite it only being a few seconds. “…Uh.. It’s no problem. Um… I dont have any siblings but.. that seems to be the norm, right?” Virgil offered, seeming willing to try and give Roman an out, which he gladly took.

“Yeah, definitely. Just… Saying shit and whatever…” The smaller one responded, his voice trailing off and leading into another awkward silence. 

“…I do have a question though.” Virgil said after a bit, turning to look at him. 

Oh no.. This had to be awkward, he was not ready for this. “…Yeah? What’s up?” He asked, expecting the absolute worst. 

The emo’s mouth curled into a hesitant smile. “…Why are they all so huge?”

Roman let out a laugh, he wasn’t sure if it was the situation, the question itself, the ridiculous comedy his life had apparently become, or just plain relief. “…I don’t know, man. They just didn’t leave me any Big, I guess. It was all gone by the time I came along.” He joked softly.

“Makes as much sense as anything else.” Virgil finally broke into a real smile, Roman’s heart able to calm enough that he was pretty sure he’d at least be able to make it to Patton’s house. 


	8. The Baker house

Their walking trip only took a short while longer, Roman reaching up to eagerly knock on the front door once they’d reached it. Virgil couldn’t help but look around at the cute family home and feel like this was the exact kind of place where their sweet friend would have grown up. 

It was perhaps two entire seconds before said sweet friend threw the door open, flying through it to wrap his two friends in a hug. Neither of them were surprised by Patton’s patented greeting method at this point, both bringing up a hand to hug him in return. As he pulled back, the distinct smell of cinnamon rolls reached their nostrils. 

Patton looked over his two friends with a huge beaming smile, beckoning them inside and toward the kitchen. He was idly chatting with them as they went, as he tended to do, but Virgil’s eyes were looking around the house. It was nice. Comfortable. Like how family homes seemed on sitcoms. Virgil didn’t think anyone really had that. But every surface looked inviting, somewhere undoubtedly comforting and soft. There were framed pictures all over the walls, showing Patton at varying ages with who he had to assume was an older sister and his parents. 

The three teens walked into the kitchen and dining area, seeing that Logan was sitting at the dining table writing in a notebook and there were also two adults happily chatting with each other as they stood at the stove. 

“Mom! Dad! Roman and Virgil are here!” Patton said excitedly, causing the two of them to turn around with smiles. 

If Virgil had met either or both of these people without context, he still would have undoubtedly known that they were Patton’s parents. The sincere smiles, the happy energy, the bright eyes… It wasn’t even that they looked alike. Roman’s family all looked eerily similar, but Patton’s… They just felt like they belonged together. 

His mom stepped forward, smiling as she looked over the two boys. “Good morning, Roman! And Virgil it’s so nice to finally meet you, I’ve only heard great things!” Her tone was excited… Like someone who was directly responsible for the existence of Patton. 

“O-Oh. Um.. Thank you, Ma’am. It’s nice to meet you too.” Virgil said, a little taken aback, but giving a shy smile. 

“You can just call me Vera, or Patton’s Mom.. Whatever is easiest, alright Pumpkin?” Vera smiled back at him, somehow managing to make Virgil feel more at ease, him nodding in response. The nickname had been a bit of a surprise, but at the same time… It seemed to make sense with this family.

“Oh, Ms. Vera! My mom wanted me to give you…” Roman sat his bag down so he could unzip it and pull the jacket out to hand over. “This!” 

She took the jacket with a smile. “Thank you, Ro. I’ll be sure to give her a call and let her know I got it.” With a little wave, she stepped out of the kitchen to take the jacket and put it away. 

“Come on, you two. Breakfast first and then we can started on this project so we can get it out of the way!” Patton nodded his head to the dining table, them all moving over and joining Logan. 

“Good morning.” He said simply, still writing in his notebook. 

“Morning, Lo.” Virgil responded, reaching to get his school supplies out of his bag. 

“Good morning, Lo!” Roman also answered, leaning in the same direction toward his own bag, causing him and Virgil to brush hands, and nearly clack heads. 

They both jolted back to avoid it, blushing brightly and muttering apologies as Virgil dragged his bag to the other side of his seat to avoid that happening again. 

Patton was a lot of things. Sweet, kind, caring, friendly, and, he could admit, a bit naive at times. But one thing he was not, was unobservant. If his two friends had thought he missed Virgil zoning out looking at Roman in class or how Roman would get transfixed on Virgil when he spoke… They both always seemed to light up when the other arrived, neither stumbled on their words as much as they did when they spoke to each other… There were a million signs. His two friends were adorable, and they would be the absolute cutest together. So once they got this assignment out of the way… That was when Patton’s real project would begin. 

They had only managed to get all of their supplies laid out when Patton’s dad came over with breakfast. It only solidified the fact that they must hang out at Patton’s house quite often. He put out their three glasses, water for logan, apple juice for Patton, chocolate milk for Roman. 

He came back around with a smile, this time with the food. “For Dr. Crofters,” He chuckled, placing down Logan’s plate that just had a small pile of toast, accompanied by a fresh jar of crofter’s jam and a butter knife. “For my Cinnamon bun,” Patton’s just had cinnamon rolls. “and of course, can’t forget Chocolate chip.” Roman’s had a couple cinnamon rolls, a small mound of bacon, and scrambled eggs.

He turned to Virgil, grabbing an empty plate and glass. “So, what can I get for you. We have juice, water, milk.. tea or coffee if you are into that sort of thing. Then there’s toast, eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls, potatoes, cereal, and oatmeal.” He offered with a smile. Virgil was a bit surprised, not having expected so many options. 

“Umm… Eggs, potatoes, bacon, and toast please?” He asked, Patton’s dad immediately smiling and starting to put his plate together. 

“Anything to drink?” 

“Uh.. Orange juice, please?” 

He came over after a moment, placing down the food and drink for him. “Here you go, one farmer’s breakfast.”

“Thank you, sir.” Virgil answered, looking up at him as he picked up his fork. 

“Oh, you can just call me Henry. No need for that fancy stuff in the Baker house, alright Pumpkin?” Henry responded with a smile, turning to leave the boys to their breakfast. …Virgil certainly hadn’t realized that he had officially been dubbed ‘Pumpkin’… But  _apparently_. 

They all dug into their breakfast, happily munching on the delicious food, obviously made with love. It was one of those moments where everyone was quiet, the focus simply on eating. It was a comfortable silence, nothing needing to be said. 

Once they had finished, Patton collected the plates and silverware to rinse off and leave in the sink, Roman took the glasses and topped off their drinks, and Logan grabbed a towel and wiped the table clean. Virgil looked around in surprise, just another sign of how much practice they had with this routine. He decided to grab a paper towel and follow behind Logan, drying the table so they could lay out their project supplies. Once they had all moved back into their seats, Logan placed the large sheet of poster board down in the center of the table. 

“Ok, so… We need to get the research and the actual information done first, right?” Virgil asked, moving to grab his notebook. 

“Yeah, once we have that, we figure out how to fit it on the poster board and then we do the decorating parts.” Patton smiled, pulling out the art supplies he had brought out.

“Actually…” Logan began, flipping his notebook open to show he had sketched a very basic layout for what their project should look like. “If we organize the information into these sections and place them thusly, we should be able to fit everything. Virgil, would you like to review what I’ve written?” He asked, flipping the page and passing it to him. 

Virgil raised an eyebrow, glancing at the other two as he took the notebook, a bit relieved to see they also were slightly confused. His eyes trailed over the work Logan had done, realizing after he had checked the sections he had prepared that he had already done all of the work for the project. 

“….Lo. Did you seriously get all of this done already? You didn’t have to do all of this work yourself.” Virgil said, looking up at him as realization dawned on Patton and Roman’s faces as well. 

“Lolo! That was a lot to get done! We are supposed to be a team!” Patton added, seeming more pouting than actually mad.

“Yeah! You took on a group project all on your own, that’s too much work!” Roman agreed.

“It’s quite to the contrary. I did what I knew would be my strong suit and best contribution to the group. It is not complete. I was going to propose that Roman, with your nicer handwriting, copy all of the information onto better paper so we can put it on the poster board. Then you and Patton can work on the decoration and the arranging of the board itself. I also assume that the two of you, with your more extroverted personalities, would take on the majority of the presentation.” Logan explained.

“…But what about me? I don’t want to be deadweight.” Virgil piped up, feeling a bit pointless.

“I had assumed you would be the one who would create the central art element. I apologize, I had believed that to be self explanatory.” Logan turned to him with a slight raised eyebrow. 

Patton’s face lit up. “Oh! Virgil, you can draw?!” 

“Uhh.. A little, I guess. Uhh… I didn’t realize that you knew, Lo. But.. Yeah, I can draw the visual I guess.” Virgil blushed somewhat.

“Well, I see you doodling far more than I’ve ever seen you taking notes in class. I had to figure that you had talent after as much practice you get in math class alone.” 

“….Thanks.” 

Logan shrugged, not realizing that Virgil definitely took that as a burn, then took the notebook and handed it over to Roman so he could begin to copy it over onto unlined paper. Patton slid some paper to both Virgil and Roman so they could get started. As Virgil worked on his pencil drawing, it occurred to him that Logan’s handwriting could easily be compared to a computer font, so what on Earth could Roman’s be like? 

By the time that Virgil had finished his piece, having inked over the pencil and then coloring it in, he looked up to see that Patton and Roman had already glued on the sections Roman had written and were decorating around them with the vast array of art supplies that Patton had provided. 

Virgil offered up the art, the two more excitable teens both exceptionally impressed and happily adding it in as the center point to the entire board. He had to admit, Logan’s plan had been rather perfect. Their project actually looked amazing… Especially seeing as Roman’s handwriting looked like some kind of royal calligraphy.  

He was definitely surprised that they had managed to finish a two week project so quickly, it was definitely only late morning and not even close to lunch yet, but he supposed it did make a lot of sense with the way that Logan tackled schoolwork. Patton and Roman had already begun cleaning up the supplies and the table before they both popped up with excitement. 

“And now that the school work is done, the sleepover can officially begin!” 


	9. Gettin' Gayer

Logan and Virgil hadn’t moved to get up, but Roman and Patton were already on their feet and bouncing with excitement. The two energetic boys were looking back at the calmer ones, a million ideas of what they should do first running through their heads. 

“Ok! The den upstairs is where we will be doing everything, it has the tv and all the games, we can go pick out what we want to do and start having fun!” Patton explained, mostly to Virgil.

“Yeah! They have a bunch of fun board games and video games and card games and… Just games. So many games!” Roman added, also predominantly speaking to Virgil. 

“Oh, wow. Um, that sounds like a lot of fun. Are we going up now then?” Virgil asked, looking at the three of them. 

“I’ll be just a moment, I need to finish packing up my bag as well as update my journal. I’ll join you all when I’m finished.” Logan said plainly. 

“…I’ll keep Logan company. We’ll be up in a bit.” Virgil nodded at their two friends. 

“Ok! Come on, Ro! Let’s go get the blankets and pick out some games!” Patton said excitedly, grabbing Roman by the hand and pulling his smallest friend out of the dining room, leaving Logan and Virgil sitting quietly at the table. 

Virgil pulled out his phone to check it idly as Logan gave their project another look over, ensuring it was done correctly, before rolling it up and securing it with a rubber band. He then pulled out the small journal that Virgil saw him write in just about every class they had together.

“Hey Lo?” He asked, looking over the journal as Logan filled in one of the lines.

“Hm?” Logan responded, not looking up.

“What’s that for?” Virgil gestured to the journal.

“This is my assignment journal. I use it to keep track of my school work and projects.” He explained, finishing the line he was working on. “I write the name of the assignment here, followed by the date it was assigned, the date it is due, and the date I complete it.” Logan turned the journal so Virgil could see it. The explanation certainly did explain the previously confusingly labeled columns. 

“Oh. That’s really smart. …What’s the last line for? With the little check mark?” Virgil asked, looking back up at him. 

“My parents check my work to ensure it has been done well and to their liking. My Father usually checks english and history, but Dad believes science and math to be his strong suit.” He closed the journal, moving to slide it back in his bag. 

“…Wait, what?” Virgil asked, tilting his head to the side in his slight confusion at the sentence. 

Logan finally looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. “My Father is more skilled with writing and remembering dates and important events in history. In contrast, my Dad is much more math and science oriented. So they each check different areas of my school work.” 

Oh. “Oh, I understand now. …I just was a little confused with your wording at first.” Virgil blushed slightly, embarrassed that he hadn’t understood.

“It isn’t a problem. I hadn’t considered that you didn’t know, but I also wasn’t worried that your confusion was based in intolerance, as it is my understanding that you are also homosexual.” Logan spoke plainly, as though this was a completely common thing to say. 

Virgil only blushed darker. “Wh-what? What.. I.. I am. But.. How do you know?” 

“There have been many things that pointed me to the conclusion… But I must admit, I only began paying attention because of Patton’s apparent obsession with the information.” 

The emo had probably never been redder in his life, and he had had to deal with Ronnie that morning. “What.. What does that mean?” 

“Patton’s obsession? He tells me quite often that he believes you and Roman are… how does he word it.. ‘Simply meant to be.’” He adjusted his glasses as he thought, quoting Patton.

“He.. He does?” 

“Indeed. He has actually asked me to speak to you about it on multiple occasions, and to encourage you in your endeavors. He seems to believe that it would be best coming from me, for some reason. So.. I suppose I can let him know that I passed along the information.” Logan shrugged, only having realized that he had done as he had been asked as he said it aloud. 

“Oh. Um.. Wow. Uh.. Ok. Ok.” Virgil muttered, somehow trying to come to grips with what had just been explained to him, realizing that apparently their two friends knew about his crush.

“Logan! That wasn’t how you were supposed to do it!” Came Patton’s voice from the doorway. 

Virgil’s head snapped up, locking eyes with a fondly exasperated Patton. 

“You didn’t say I had to present the information in a specific way. You just asked me to talk to him.” Logan countered. 

“Still!” Patton sighed before turning to Virgil. “Virge! You have to go for it! Tell him how you feel! You two are perfect for each other!” Patton said excitedly. 

“…Wh-what makes you say that?” Virgil managed, still dealing with the fact that he apparently was not at all as subtle as he’d hoped.

“So many things! You just are!” Patton said, his smile only growing wider. He went to say more, hopefully planning to elaborate, but they all heard a door open upstairs. Patton’s voice dropped to a whisper. “We can talk more later, sounds like he’s out of the bathroom. I told him I was going to come get you two. Now come! Game time!” He turned and fled from the room once more. 

Logan sighed slightly as he stood and began to follow after him, Virgil having to act quickly so he wasn’t left behind in a house he had never been in before. This was a lot for him to have to sort through, mentally. But for now all he could really try and focus on was getting through this sleepover without exploding. 

The three of them made their way upstairs to the den, a large room that held more comfortable looking furniture as well as a large television and a huge cabinet that more than likely held all of the games that Roman had mentioned. In the middle of the floor, surrounded by blankets, pillows, and games, sat Roman, having chosen a small brightly colored box that he was pulling cards out of and placing them on the floor.

“Ro, did you pick a game?” Patton asked excitedly, moving to sit next to him and see what he picked.

“Yeah! I thought we could start with the Disney truth or dare!” Roman smiled, putting cards into two piles and pulling out a small plastic hourglass timer.

“Disney truth or dare? How does that work?” Virgil asked, trying his absolute hardest to seem normal. 

“Oh it’s really fun! The truth questions are just trivia questions, those are worth 1 point. And the dares are like, charades or challenges, and those can be worth more points!” Roman explained.

“Don’t worry, Virge! You can go last so you can see how it’s done! Ro, why don’t you start?” Patton said cheerily. 

“Sure!” Roman immediately reached for a dare card, Virgil and Logan sharing a look that spoke volumes on what Logan’s suggestion and personal method was to this game. It was clear that neither cared about winning, and they’d both be choosing truth every time. 

A few rounds went by, Patton having to silently act out as many of the 7 dwarves as he could for his friends to guess, name as many princesses as he could, and try to get his friends to guess a certain movie with only one word clues at a time, while Roman had had to silently act out princess’s animal companions, as well as a Pictionary style challenge where he had to try and draw a character for them to guess. It was very clear that Roman had not inherited any of the artistic talent his brother had, and ended up not getting that point, but they were still all having fun. All of these challenges also really reinforced Virgil’s and Logan’s decision to avoid the challenge questions like the plague, sticking to trivia whenever it was one of their turns.

It was Roman’s turn again, him choosing a dare as he always did and reading the question aloud. “Sing a song from a Disney film that contains no royalty until the timer runs down. Points also goes to the first person to guess the song name, movie, or character who originally sang the song.” He took a moment to think, holding the timer until he had a song in mind. 

Patton had a very slight mischievous look in his eye, glancing at Virgil as Roman was thinking. Virgil noticed and looked back at him with concern, unsure what Patton was scheming. They both snapped back to Roman when he piped up again.

“Oh, I’ve got it! Ready?” He asked, looking around at his friends, all of them giving nods in response. Roman smiled wide, flipping the timer and placing it down, immediately starting to sing out “Why Should I Worry?” from Oliver & Company. 

Oh no. Oh lord. Roman could sing. Roman could  _really_ sing. His voice was beautiful… Matching the rest of him. Virgil’s cheeks turned a warm shade of pink, Patton definitely paying attention to how perfectly that had worked out. It wasn’t long before the timer ran out, Patton happily naming everything for the bonus points and them moving on. 

Virgil really didn’t need more amazing things about Roman, he was already struggling. But here they were. They finished that game after a bit longer, deciding to move on to a few more board games until Patton’s dad came up into the room with a few boxes of pizza for them for lunch. It was at that point that they put away all their card and board games, chatting about what video games they wanted to switch to once they’d finished eating. 

Patton, with that mischievous glint in his eye, recommended they pull out Rock Band since it had been just  _sooo_ long since they last played it, and now that they had Virgil, they could have a full band. Logan and Roman agreed, Virgil having to hold in a look of indignance as he looked  back at Patton and responded, “…Sure.” 

Patton and Roman began eagerly setting up the plastic instruments and Logan getting the system on and the tv on the correct channel. Patton, of course, recommended Roman take the microphone before settling himself behind the drum kit. With a shrug, Roman agreed, having no problem doing the vocals and completely unaware of the Time that Virgil was about to go through.

They played for what felt like an eternity to Virgil, luckily his instrument wasn’t too difficult or he definitely would have been failing with how much he was simply getting lost in listening to Roman’s voice. 

Eventually, thankfully, they all decided to move on from Rock Band and switch to some other party video games until dinner, Patton’s mom coming upstairs with ample amounts of pasta and garlic bread for them.

A full day of playing and snacking between meals had left the four boys feeling a bit lethargic, switching to watching movies after their large dinner had been finished. Surrounded by blankets and pillows, sitting on the soft carpet, the four boys slowly drifted off one by one to the films on the television. 

Of course, Virgil was last to fall asleep, the last thought in his mind before he had drifted off was about how he was sleeping in the same room with, not only, the boy he had a long time crush on… But also his two closest friends who were apparently very aware of that crush.


	10. Couldn't help himself

The sleepover ended well, them waking up to another breakfast cooked with love and eventually all heading home. This did open the door for the four boys to start spending much more time together after school and on weekends, generally with Patton’s mom picking them all up and taking them back to their house to do homework and hangout. Occasionally someone else would end up taking them back to the Baker house, Virgil only dreading it when it somehow ended up being Ronnie. It hadn’t taken the rather dramatic young man long to realize that literally everyone but Roman knew about Virgil’s crush. The emo wasn’t a big fan of those car rides. 

Regardless of how they arrived back to Patton’s, they all still had a lot of fun despite Logan making sure they all finished their school work before any lounging took place. The three of them really benefitted from this arrangement, seeing as they were much less on task without Logan there, and he had a better grasp of most subjects than the rest of them did and was more than willing to assist when needed. This especially came in handy when they had to study for upcoming tests. 

There was also the added factor of Patton continuously sending little glances Virgil’s way whenever Roman wasn’t looking. Virgil knew what Patton wanted… Hell, what he wanted. All he had to do was say  _Will you go out with me?_  And see what happened. But, that was much easier said than done. Or… Thought than said, rather. It was on his mind nearly every time he and Roman were alone, but that more nervous, anxious part of his mind always stopped him. What if he ruined everything? 

Such was his life for the next several weeks, Patton doing everything in his power to keep that question swirling around Virgil’s head. Playing games that showed off Roman’s adorable sense of humor, watching movies he loved to sing along to, getting him to laugh his sweet little laugh… Virgil was struggling. But  _Will you go out with me?_  Just never seemed to be willing to come out of his mouth. 

They made it to just before midterms, just about halfway through the school year, and they found themselves studying for the upcoming tests and finishing up any projects they had to do. Virgil had apparently gotten lost in distraction again because he was somewhat jolted back to attention by Logan’s voice. 

“…Roman, you appear to be struggling. What is it that you are working on?” Logan asked, trying to see what it was.

Roman sighed, putting his pencil down and resting his cheek on his hand. “It’s this dumb project for art class. I’m awful at art.” 

“…Why did you take art? You’ve never liked it.” Patton asked, quite confused and raising an eyebrow.

“I didn’t know what elective to take. Ronnie said art was the easiest one.” He shrugged. 

Virgil held in a slight snicker. “…Ronnie… Your campus art award winning, mural painting, artistic older brother?  _That_  Ronnie told you that art would be easy?” He smirked.

Roman pouted indignantly, his cheeks puffing up in an extremely adorable way. “….Yes. That’s a valid point. I guess I could have considered all that.” 

“Well.. It is the end of the semester, you could switch your elective for the second half of the year. It doesn’t help with your current problem, but it could at least prevent future ones.” Logan offered.

“I don’t know what I’d take… What did you guys take for your’s?” He asked, looking around at his friends. 

“…I mean, I’m also in art, just a different class.” Virgil shrugged.

“I’m in ceramics!” Patton said excitedly.

“I chose to take an extra science class.” Logan explained.

Roman looked back at them all blankly. “…So. Art, a different kind of art, and… More actual class. I think I’m good on all of those.” 

“…There’s… Fun P.E. Classes?” Patton offered.

Roman raised an eyebrow. “…Yeah, I’m small, slow, and not strong. Bad plan.”

“You could take creative writing? You enjoy things of that nature.” Logan thought, hand to his chin.

“I took that last year. With Virgil, actually.”

“….What about theater?” Virgil asked, earning slightly surprised looks from all of them. 

“…Theater? Why theater?” Roman seemed confused. 

“Well… Lo mentioned the creative writing thing.. You really liked, like, the Shakespeare stuff we did… And you never have a problem with presentations and stuff..” Virgil’s cheeks darkened a bit. “…And you can.. Uh.. like… Sing. And stuff.” He added, mumbling. 

Patton’s face lit up. “Virge is right! I bet you’d be really good at that!” 

Roman was also blushing softly. “…I, uh.. I mean.. It’s only one semester. I guess I could try it, if you.. If you both think it’s a good idea.” 

With a shy nod, and some art project help, from Virgil and exuberant agreement from Patton, they made it through their midterms and Roman made the switch from his art class to the beginning theater class. A week or so into the next semester, they asked Roman how he was liking his class so far and he explained there were a few things he had to catch up on since he hadn’t been in for the first semester. 

The main thing being that everyone in the theater classes had to audition for at least one play a year. There was no obligation that they get a part or participate in it, but they had to go through the process of auditioning anyway. Most people auditioned early in the year, when the regular play was in the works and all that they had to prepare was a monologue. During the second semester they did the musical, so the audition included a singing portion as well. Roman explained all of this as though he was sure it was just something he had to do for a grade and he was certain he wouldn’t be casted.

Virgil, of course, knew as soon as he mentioned he had to sing that they’d all be going to see that play when he ended up getting a part in it.

Sure enough, the auditions came and went, Roman completely shocked to see his name on the cast list. He didn’t have a big part, he was only a minor character and was mostly there to be part of the supporting chorus, but he was in it nonetheless. His friends all congratulated him, even if none of them were anywhere near as surprised as he was. This did get slightly in the way of their hangout time, Roman having to start going to rehearsals a few times a week. Virgil missed seeing him as much, but it was very clear that their small friend was having a lot of fun. They’d never seen him so excited to go to a class or to have to stay after school. He shared his lines with them and told them all about the process with a huge smile and sparkling eyes, Virgil still unable to utter his  _Will you go out with me?_  But it was clearly trying to escape every time he saw Roman’s adorable and amazing joy.

It was a Friday, only a couple weeks before the play, that found Virgil, Patton, and Logan hanging out before school, waiting for Roman. Virgil had been telling them about something that had happened the day before when he suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence. Patton and Logan were confused at first, unsure what had caused him to cut off his speaking, when they turned to follow Virgil’s gaze and saw Roman walking up. 

Patton smiled wide, immediately seeing what had Virgil so distracted. “Ro! What happened to your glasses?” 

Roman was already blushing, looking up at his friends with unobstructed eyes. “Uh.. I’m trying out contacts. For the play.” 

“Are you not permitted to wear glasses for the play? That seems like a lot for them to expect of you.” Logan asked, adjusting his own as he spoke. 

“Oh, it’s not that. I, uh… Well, they decided they wanted to have head microphones on certain members of the chorus as well as the main actors. They wanted me to have a mic.. I guess they like my voice a lot…” He blushed a bit darker. “But the mic wraps around your ear to stay on and because my frames were such thick plastic it would give me a headache to have both. They recommended I try thinner frames if I had the ability… But when I told my mom, she didn’t want to risk me being in pain and we decided to try the contacts.” He explained, looking up at them shyly. 

“Ah. That is probably for the best then. You wouldn’t have a very positive experience with the play if you were in pain.” Logan nodded. 

“Yeah.. Uh.. Does it.. Look weird?” Roman asked, still shy. 

“It’s quite different, but it’s not negative.” Logan responded.

“No, definitely not weird! You look cute with and without them!” Patton was quick to add. 

They all turned to Virgil, waiting to see what he would say as he had been extremely quiet since first spotting him walking up. 

For Virgil, that entire scene had played out in slow motion and in complete silence. He had seen Roman walking up, his sparkling green eyes and freckled cheeks completely unobstructed. Without his glasses, his gorgeous eyes seemed even bigger and shinier… You couldn’t miss them if you tried. His mind had gone completely blank. All of his nervousness had completely evaporated along with his ability to think or make any sort of judgment calls at all. Before he knew what he was saying, the words came tumbling right out of his mouth like water rushing through a dam that had finally broken. “…Will you go out with me?”


	11. The date

After the words had escaped Virgil’s lips and he registered what it was that he had said, the rest of the day seemed to be nothing but a blurry haze. All he was really able to remember from that moment was a shocked silence followed by an adorably shy “Yes,” an over excited squeal, and barely heard muttering of “Finally.” It wasn’t long after that that the bell had rung, Logan seeing that this blushing, enamored staring match didn’t seem to be ending anytime soon and Patton certainly wasn’t going to be any help in the matter as he was barely holding in more squeals of excitement. So Logan took it upon himself to grab Virgil by the backpack and lead him off to their shared class. 

Thankfully, Virgil had his early shared class with Logan but didn’t have his class with their other friends that day. Logan, completely unaware why Virgil seemed so confused on the subject, was able to help him calm down and reassure him that he had not only definitely managed to finally ask Roman out, but also that he had, in fact, gotten an affirmative response. As much as his smart friend was perplexed as to why he needed to be reminded several times how the details unfolded, he did so as many times as Virgil asked him to. 

He had essentially blacked out for the remainder of the day, recalling somewhat that at lunch he and Roman had agreed to meet the following day at the mall to see a movie together, and he wasn’t fully aware of what was going on until he found himself eating lunch the next day, awaiting his ride to his date. His mom often times came home on her lunch break from work, and today she agreed to pick him up and take him to the mall when she did so. It was for the best, he knew he couldn’t make her late for getting back, so it would prevent him from having any kind of nervous stalling.

When his phone buzzed, signaling that she was there outside for him, he only had enough time to quickly check his reflection, making sure his clothes were straight and his hair looked right, before running outside to slide into the front seat of the car and head off to the mall.

-

On the other side of town, Ronnie had had Roman trapped in the bathroom all morning, fingers deep in his hair trying to tame it down. And, of course, giving him ‘sagely older brother advice’ all the while. 

“Oh! And you can do the subtle yawn and put your arm around his shoulders in the movie, if you’re feeling bold. Oh oh! And if you pick a scary movie, he’ll definitely get spooked and probably end up going right to you for comfort. That always works. And you ca-”

“Ronnie. Come on, don’t do this to Ro. You’re filling his head with nonsense and he’s only 15. He doesn’t need your patented bad ideas.” Came Ray’s voice from the doorway, them both turning to see their eldest brother leaning against the doorframe looking back at them. 

Ronnie huffed indignantly. “Oh, shut up, Ray. You’ve never even been on a gay date. I know exactly what I’m talking about. Trust me, Ro.” 

Ray rolled his eyes, focusing on the older of his two younger brothers. “…Why does it even matter if it was a gay date? I’ve been on plenty of dates, and I’ve never pulled your nonsense.”

“Yeah! With girls! You just don’t understand!” Ronnie shook his head, looking back down into Roman’s hair as he continued to try and calm it with product.

The eldest Prince brother just sighed. “…Ro, just take what Ronnie says with a grain of salt, you know how he is.” 

Roman couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at his two older brothers, his cheeks still in a perpetual blush since the events of yesterday morning.

“Um, no! I’m always right! You can-” Ronnie paused as they heard a familiar pounding of footsteps coming toward them, the twins passing behind Ray on their way to their room. “Ruff! Russ! Tell Ray I’m right!” 

The twins just shrugged as they went past. “Sure.” “Yeah.” 

“Seeeee? They know I’m right!” 

“They don’t even know what you’re talking about!” Ray huffed in exasperation.

Ronnie looked back over at him, obviously feeling victorious. “Doesn’t matter! Still two votes for me!”

“ _They only count as one vote and you know it!”_  

Roman finally cleared his throat to draw attention back to himself. “Hey, uh… Can I go now?”

-

Virgil was waiting by the big fountain in front of the movie theater at the mall, where he and Roman had agreed to meet. …He was pretty sure, at least. Yesterday was still a bit hazy. He was just about to pull out his phone to text him, he was pretty sure that they had said they’d be here by now, when he heard someone calling him.

“Virge!” Came Roman’s voice, the emo teen turning to see the object of his affections running toward him. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to be late, getting out of my house was just such an ordeal and my brothers and it was just such a  _thing_.”

Virgil couldn’t help but smile, looking back at him. He let out a little fond laugh. “Don’t worry about it. And, uh… Certainly sounds like it…do I even want to know?” He asked with a smile.

Roman seemed to calm down when he saw Virgil obviously wasn’t upset, flashing his big toothy smile. “No. You don’t, I promise.”

“I’ll trust you then. So, uh.. movie?” Virgil nodded then glanced behind them at the theater.

“Y-yeah. Sounds good.” Roman blushed a little, the two of them walking off side by side to choose what they wanted to see.  

They stood together infront of the movie theater, reading the display that had the times and listings. When Virgil asked Roman what he wanted to see, Roman considered the scary movie for half a second because of his brother’s advice… Then remembered the last time that he’d listened to Ronnie, he’d ended up in an art class.

“Uhh… How about… The new superhero thing?” Roman shrugged, looking up at him. 

“Sure, why not? …What’s the current superhero thing?” Virgil asked, glancing back down to him.

“Uhh.. I mean, Spider-Man probably, right? Isn’t there always a new Spider-Man?” 

Virgil let out a little laugh. “…I mean, you aren’t wrong.”  

They walked up to get their tickets, asking for “Two tickets to whatever the superhero thing that’s out is, please,” and then heading inside to get two huge sodas and the collectible bucket full of popcorn. Once that had been handled, the two teens made their way to their seats. They found two near the middle toward the back, settling next to each other with blushy smiles. 

They snacked on popcorn through the previews, talking a little bit about the new films that were being advertised and what they thought of them until the lights began to dim. At the phone reminder announcement, they both pulled out their phones to ensure they were silenced before the movie began. Roman quickly blushed much darker, thankful for the darkening room, and shoved his phone back in his pocket so he could ignore the several text messages containing more ‘helpful tips’ from Ronnie.

The movie started, them both enjoying it and able to get fairly lost in it for good periods of time until they’d inevitably go for popcorn at the same time and nearly grab hands, resulting in an embarrassed loss of attention for the film for a good minute or two. It was somewhere around the big fight scene of the movie that a surprisingly loud sound and sudden rush of movement actually did end up jolting Virgil a bit, him instinctively leaning a bit closer to Roman and gripping the arm rest. 

It took a few moments for him to steel his nerves, but Roman shifted the popcorn bucket out of the way and very slowly moved his hand to slide into Virgil’s to give him a small reassuring squeeze. Both of them were blushing steadily, but Virgil only hesitated a second before moving to lace their fingers together. 

Their hands didn’t move for the remainder of the film, neither of them stirring even when the lights came up and the theater began to empty. They glanced back to each other, both blushing softly and smiling. 

“Um… Did you like it?” Virgil finally asked.

“Yeah. It was really good. How about you?” Roman nodded, smiling wider.

“For sure, it was really cool.” Virgil agreed, also nodding awkwardly. They both paused a moment, not sure what to do next, but they definitely were going to have to leave their seats in a few moments. “….Wanna, uh… There’s a pretty good burger place on the edge of the mall? We could grab some food and.. um.. Talk about the movie?” He offered. 

“That sounds really good, I like that place.” 

Virgil stood first, but didn’t let go, looking back at Roman who just stood as well and turned, using the hand he held to softly lead Virgil out of their row and down the steps, his other hand holding onto their collective bucket. Once they were out of the theater and off toward the restaurant, they fell in step side by side, still holding on. 

They made it to dinner, spending a long time sitting, talking, and laughing together, not getting up to leave until their rides texted to say they would be coming for them soon. They left the restaurant and stood outside, waiting to be picked up… Their hands finding each other once again. 

Standing together quietly, it was Roman who finally broke the silence. “…Hey, uh.. Virge?” He looked up at the taller teen, his hand trembling ever so slightly with nervousness. 

“Yeah, Ro?” Virgil glanced down, seeing how Roman was obviously nervous.

“Uh.. Are.. Are we like.. A thing?” His voice was wavering a bit.

“..Do you.. Do you want to be?” Virgil responded, sounding hopeful.

Roman’s uncharacteristically nervous expression quickly broke into a much more natural grin. “Yeah. I would, definitely.” 

Virgil was just no match for that infectious smile. “Then.. Yeah. For sure.” 

Roman couldn’t help but pull his new boyfriend in for a hug, them holding each other close until they had to leave.


	12. The play

From the moment they separated, Virgil and Roman had started texting. Shyly at first, but it slowly became something easy and second nature for them. Just always talking, joking, and enjoying each other when they weren’t together. Of course they both also had several texts from Patton from over the course of the day, it seemed he had been trying to be on his best behavior and not bother them while they were on their date… But that still meant they had quite a few messages from their excitable friend by the time they checked.

He was definitely more than just a little happy for them, being the main person who had been trying to get them to get together after all, and insisted that all four of them hang out at his house the next day. There were several squeals of joy anytime Virgil and Roman interacted in anyway that wasn’t strictly platonic, cueing flushed cheeks from the young couple and predominantly fond exasperation from Logan. 

Going back to school the next day only lessened the noise level slightly, Logan honestly wasn’t sure how long it would be before the new couple could hold hands without Patton’s eager and exuberant response. But as happy days blurred into happy weeks, Patton was able to school his excitement into huge smiles and much softer, smaller sounds. It was also only those short few weeks later that suddenly Roman’s play was upon them. Roman seemed full of nervous energy, but he was obviously beyond excited to be in his very first play.

Patton’s and Roman’s moms had worked it out where Vera would be the one to take the three boys to the play, while Rose would get them all home later that night. Roman wouldn’t be leaving school, he had to stay for all of the very last preparations for the show, so only Virgil and Logan would be heading home with Patton. They said goodbye to Roman, Virgil giving him a blushing hug and quick kiss for good luck, while also desperately trying to ignore that their friends were right there, before waving and walking off with them.

The few hours spent waiting at the Baker house felt like an eternity, Virgil was somehow secondhand nervous for Roman. This was going to be so great, he knew it. But that didn’t mean that Virgil could calm down, it just wasn’t who he was. Thankfully, it did eventually become time to go, and they all followed Vera out to the car to head back to school. Patton was basically bouncing in his seat the entire time, he couldn’t wait to see their little friend finally do something that was strictly his own. Not only had no one in his family ever done anything like this, they didn’t have any other friends who did either. So this was going to be all Roman. 

Once they had said goodbye to Vera, the three boys walked into the foyer of their school theater to hang out until they’d be able to get seats inside. They had been leaning against the wall and talking, occasionally looking up to the sound of the foyer doors opening as more people arrived. Virgil glanced up on one occasion and paused, seeing that the least conspicuous family in existence had arrived. Virgil subtly nudged Patton, causing him to look up and see the Princes filing through the doorway. Patton turned and smiled before bouncing over to greet them. 

Virgil saw Logan set off to follow him, so he did as well. He had glanced over the family as he walked up, but then did a quick double take. Something was off. 1.. 2.. 6? That was too many, wasn’t it? He looked over them again, finding the one he hadn’t seen before amongst them. Near the back of the group was a man who fit in so easily with all of them, Virgil hadn’t even noticed him at first. But upon a closer look, not only was he noticeably older than Roman’s siblings, it was like he was the core that tied them all together. Warm brown eyes and hair that most of them shared, tall but not as tall as Ray, broad but not as broad as the twins. With Rose standing next to him, silently explaining why one of their kids was a sandy blonde and two had sparkling green eyes, it was unmistakable that this had to be their father. 

Patton had already bounded up to Rose and was giving her a big hug. “Hi Ms.Rosemary!” 

Rose laughed, softly ruffling Patton’s hair. “Hello, Patty! I’m so glad we ran into you three! Now we can all sit together!” 

“Yeah! I just can’t wait!” Patton nodded excitedly, still bouncing on his toes. 

Rose smiled and looked up to see the other two boys, also going to give them hugs. “Logan, Virgil! I’m so glad you could both make it!” She added, looking down. 

Logan gave a nod, Virgil offering a shy smile. That was when the eldest Prince seemed to realize who it was that was with them. “Oh! So this is Virgil? I’ve heard so many good things!” 

Virgil looked up, making eye contact with him. “Um.. Thank you, sir. It’s nice to meet you.” He said, nervously smiling up at the large man before him. 

He let out a warm bark of laughter, smiling back at Virgil fondly. “No need to be so formal, Virgil. I’m Richard, but Rich is just fine. And anyway, I’m so happy to meet you! I’ve met a girl or two over the years, but this is the first time one of my boys brought a boyfriend around for me to meet!” 

Ronnie let out an audible groan. “ _Daaaaaad_.” 

Rich smirked slightly, but brought his hands up in an innocent gesture. “…I’m just saying, Ronnie… I don’t think any of us expected Ro to beat you to the punch.” Ray and the twins were instantly holding in laughs, Ronnie stamping his foot exaggeratedly as he let out a huff and grumbled something under his breath.

Before they were able to get more onto Ronnie’s case, the announcement that the doors to the theater were opening rang through the foyer. Rich stepped forward, waving them all to follow behind him. “Come on,  _Royal Court_ , we need to hurry if we wanna find enough seats together!” All of them followed behind him, Virgil and Logan giving each other a look that spoke volumes on their feelings about dad jokes. 

They settled into their seats, taking up essentially an entire row. Virgil was sitting in the aisle seat with Logan next to him, anxiously awaiting the start of this performance. Everyone around them was chatting idly, the seats of the school’s theater filling up with people there to enjoy the musical. Virgil hadn’t been aware that so many people came to these things. He was glad though, he was sure Roman would do well and the more people there to applaud for him, the better. 

The lights in the theater eventually dimmed, another announcement that the play would be beginning ringing out and reminding everyone to put their phones away. Virgil’s anticipation only grew, the rustling of hands in pockets and purses dying down as people did as they were asked quieting down after a few moments and the curtain going up. 

For a good while, Virgil just watched the play. Obviously the main characters had the most to do and existed for the majority of setting up the story. But as soon as Roman stepped onto the stage, it was like he was the only one up there. He only had a few short lines to deliver in his first appearance, but he was visible for more than long enough to give Virgil plenty of time to take in every detail of his boyfriend. He was looking positively amazing in his costume, those bright lights illuminating him and every one of his adorable details. 

It was plenty for Virgil to swoon over until the actual main song began, Roman’s voice carrying the chorus and distinctly laying over the top. Virgil felt his heart swell with pride as everyone around him heard Roman’s talent, especially at a few surprised intakes of breath from the Prince family off to the side of him. 

Over the intermission he definitely heard some surprised whispering from that direction, but Virgil was busy sending texts to Roman, unable to hold back a smile as he typed as quickly as he could. The second half was probably Virgil’s favorite, it did have another big song number where Roman was able to shine once again, but specifically because he could see that Roman was just having so much fun. The smile on his face while he was singing… It was absolutely everything.

Once the play ended and the cast came up to centerstage in small groups to bow for their applause, it was more than apparent which young actor had an entire row there specifically for him. Roman bowed and waved with his cheeks bright red, but his smile was still stretched from ear to ear. The lights came up as the actors left the stage, their large group then making their way to the foyer to wait for Roman to get changed.

“That was amazing! I had no idea Ro had such a knack for this!” Rich was absolutely beaming.

“…Honestly. Who knew the munchkin could sing?” Ronnie added, obviously surprised and impressed. 

The three friends just smiled, Patton letting out a little giggle that told the Princes that they had known all along.

Rose and Rich shared a smile before looking back at the three small teens. “Well, I’m glad he found something he enjoys… How about we all go out to eat to celebrate?” He smiled, looking around at the group.

Virgil was a bit taken aback. There were ten of them in total, how could they just casually go out? “…Oh, you don’t have to do that… Bring us, I mean.” Virgil stammered, but the eldest Prince quickly just patted his shoulder with a warm smile on his face. 

“Oh don’t worry about it, kiddo! We have plenty of room in the van, and I’m sure Ro would love to have you all there.” Rich turned back to Rose, giving Patton a chance to lean in to whisper to Virgil.

“Don’t worry about it. …The way they eat? The three of us are only like… One extra person to them.” Patton explained, having seemed to pick up on the fact that Virgil’s main concern was monetary.

Virgil barely had time to consider what on earth that could mean when he felt a soft tap on his back. He spun around to see Roman looking up at him with his pink cheeks and huge smile. Everything else immediately left Virgil’s thoughts as his smile grew to match Roman’s. All he could do was rush forward and pull him into the biggest hug he could manage, holding him tight enough to silently explain everything he was feeling.


	13. Dinner

As much as time had slowed for Virgil and Roman, it hadn’t at all for everyone around them. Their moment only lasted for so long before they heard a exaggeratedly fake cough and a loud half-whisper. 

“ _Gaaaaaaay_.” Came Ronnie’s voice from behind them. 

They separated, Roman blushing bright but, in a moment of playful boldness he was unaware he even possessed, Virgil just took his boyfriend’s hand and then smirked back at the dramatic older teen. “ _Exceptionally_. Jealous, much?” 

Ronnie immediately gave a scowling pout as all the other boys, even Rich, begin to snicker slightly. 

Roman just looked up at Virgil with an adoring smile and leaned more into him before looking back at his family. 

“Alright, alright. Come on everyone, let’s get to the van and get off to dinner! We have a talented little actor to celebrate!” Rich announced, smiling down at his youngest before turning to lead their huge group outside. Roman was positively beaming, following behind and still holding tight to Virgil’s hand.

Virgil was feeling pretty proud of himself for that little comment, riding that high until they were a bit into the parking lot and he realized the only vehicle they could be walking toward. 

“….Is that.. like.. an RV?” He asked Roman quietly, looking at the huge van before them.

Roman glanced at the car and then back at Virgil. “…I mean, I think it could almost be. But, no.. It’s a sprinter van. We only use it when we’re all going somewhere.. It’s the only thing that fits us all.” He shrugged.

Virgil was still surprised at the size of it, but just continued and watched as one of the twins opened the sliding back door and the parents climbed into the front seats. Ronnie turned back to the smaller teens and gave a head nod toward the open door. “Come on, short legs in the way back, wide loads in the front.” 

Roman grumbled as he led Virgil and Patton inside, Virgil marveling at the three rows of three back seats. One of the twins gave Ronnie a shove at the comment, the thinner boy stumbling into the other of his largest brothers. 

“Oh my god, don’t start.” Ray groaned, pulling Ronnie out from between them. 

Roman, Virgil, and Patton slid into the furthest back seats, Ronnie, Ray, and Logan took the middle, leaving Ruff and Russ to get the row closest to the front. 

“Everyone strapped in?” Rose called from the passenger seat, peering back at them all. As everyone gave their vague noises of confirmation, Rich started the car and they all headed out. 

Virgil honestly felt like he was on a bus, there was so much space between him and the windshield, it just didn’t feel like he could possibly be in a family vehicle. But he had definitely never known a family as big as the Princes, so he supposed it made sense… But still. 

They sat fairly quietly in the back once Patton had gotten his long string of praise for Roman out, Virgil listening to Ray and Logan discussing something he had no ability to follow, and he swore he heard some low murmuring between the twins but it was impossible to discern from so far away. He mostly just sat, happily leaned against Roman and still holding his hand. Focusing on that predominantly, it wasn’t long until the lot of them had pulled up to the restaurant. They began the process of all filing out once the van had been parked, letting them all get a good look at the restaurant. 

It certainly wasn’t where Virgil would have thought to take such a large group, as it was a pretty well known steakhouse. The small emo had never been himself, but it definitely looked expensive. He glanced over at Roman, and his boyfriend just looked beyond excited at where his dad had driven them. Apparently this was the best option seeing as it was his day, so Virgil filed the choice away in his mind as being such a special occasion. Roman gave his hand a squeeze before letting go to bound over to his dad, more than likely thanking him, the small boy talking animatedly as the group made their way inside. 

Virgil gave Patton another look of concern, but the other boy just silently reassured him once again that this was going to be alright, and they followed behind them. It took a little bit of time for the steakhouse to set up a table for all ten of them, but they were seated soon enough and Roman was beaming from his spot at the head of the table. Virgil’s heart swelled once again, never getting enough of the joyous expression across his adorable face. 

As soon as the waiter had taken their drink order, Rich was already ordering appetizers for the table. Apparently this was completely normal, as no one else seemed to react, the only things spoken were input and requests on what he was ordering. Virgil had a feeling that he had no idea what he was getting himself into. 

Once they had gotten their drinks and all placed their entree orders, all of the Princes immediately were up on their feet, heading to the soup and salad bar that was apparently an option as an add on to their meals, all of them having chosen this option. 

Virgil just glanced over to Patton and Logan again, the three of them finding themselves alone at a ten person table. 

“…. _what_?” Was all Virgil could manage. 

Patton and Logan both just shrugged, having no answer for him.

The Princes began to trickle back, Roman and Rose first, both smiling as they sat down. Rose had made herself a fairly small salad, Roman just having gotten a cup of soup. The others came back more slowly with much larger offerings, all tucking into their food as the conversation began to pick back up.

“Logan! Long time, no see! How have you and your parents been? I haven’t seen your father much around work lately.” Rich asked, looking down the table to Logan. 

“It has been some time, Dr. Prince. Although, I do understand you are quite busy. We have been well, my father recently agreed to a temporary transfer to a hospital across town, I believe they are short staffed and in the process of hiring on more medical professionals.” Logan replied simply. 

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that. Hopefully he’ll be back soon and the other hospital will get their staff sorted out.” Rich nodded. 

Virgil turned to Patton, silently mouthing, “ _Doctor_?” to which Patton nodded. …Well that certainly explained a lot. While Rich and Logan continued to converse, Virgil was fairly invested in watching the food disappear. The soup and salad didn’t last long, and neither did the table bread. The appetizers also came and went, although Rich and Rose made sure that the smaller boys got their pick first, which was nice. Virgil also could have sworn, not that he was counting because that would be weird, that the twins got up no less than four times for more salad.

When the meals finally arrived, Virgil remained in awe. Patton had really meant what he said. The three of them were hardly a factor in the amount that had been ordered. He was fairly sure he had never seen so many steaks at once in his life. Virgil turned back to Roman, seeing him happily eating his, smiling as he chewed. He couldn’t help but match his smile as he watched… Man, was he gay for this boy. 

Rich eventually raised a small toast to Roman, congratulating him on his first play and them all softly clinking glasses as the blushing teenager couldn’t help but beam, so happy to have found something that was his own. 

Dinner continued on, fairly uneventfully to everyone except Virgil who still could just not comprehend where all the food was going. Everyone had broken up into small conversations, Logan and Ray back on their smart discussion from the car, the twins were always off in their own little world, and Virgil was just listening in as Roman and Patton talked about a show they watched together. But everything went completely silent as Rose’s voice rose over all of their’s, not loud enough to disturb the restaurant, but definitely in that serious motherly tone that had literally everyone at the table with their eyes on her. 

“ _RONALD REMINGTON_ , don’t you even think about it!” She scolded, Ronnie immediately going red all the way up to his ears. 

“Mom! I wasn’t! And you know how much I hate that!” He whined, but it lacked all of his usual sass. 

A soft “ _Ooooo_ …” oozed out of Ray’s mouth, all of Ronnie’s brothers getting a quiet satisfaction out of his embarrassment.

The name was bouncing around Virgil’s head. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. They finished dinner, even had dessert, it seeming that even this family had eventually gotten their fill. Rich payed the bill, leaving a generously sized cash tip on the receipt, and they all filed out. But Virgil still couldn’t shake the thought. He had to know. 

He leaned down slightly to whisper to Roman. “…I have to ask. Just.. Please tell me that you don’t all have the same exact initials. Including the middle one.” 

Roman looked up at him, searching his expression for a moment before sighing exaggeratedly. “…You are asking me to lie to you.” 

Virgil brought a hand to lamentingly rest on Roman’s shoulder. “…I’m so sorry.” 

Roman sighed, a little more playfully dramatic than necessary, putting his hand atop Virgil’s on his shoulder. “…Thank you. You have no idea.”


	14. Summer

Once Roman’s play had passed, the rest of the school year went by fairly uneventfully. Of course Virgil didn’t miss a single one of Roman’s plays, and Patton and Logan did their best to make it to them as well. They were all just so proud of him, and none of them had ever seen him this proud or sure of himself before, which was also a huge treat for all of them. 

But the play did come to an end, Roman happily wearing his cast and crew shirt whenever he had the opportunity, and their sophomore year came to a close. Virgil learned that it was apparently a tradition amongst the three friends to have a big beach day to celebrate the start of summer as well as Roman’s birthday. While the other three of them all had already turned 16, Roman was the youngest of them with his birthday during the summer. The newcomer to the group also learned that this tradition had been going on for so long, even their parents tended to wait until their beach trip to plan things for the summer. 

Virgil was able to talk to his parents and make sure he’d be able to stay with his mom at least until after the trip so he wouldn’t have to miss Roman’s birthday. He had never been a big fan of the beach, but then again, he really hadn’t been very many times. And now that he had an adorably excitable boyfriend, he had a feeling he would have an entirely new outlook on the location. 

Fortunately, he was completely correct. While he spent a good bit of the time at the beach under the umbrella hiding from the sun, not quite as much as Logan did at least, he had a great day. Patton and Roman spent basically all day playing in the water and the sand, diving in the waves, building sandcastles, digging huge holes, playing frisbee, and essentially every activity Virgil associated with the beach. He did play with them a good bit, and even Logan did as well, but it was clear they were fine just seeing how much fun their friends were having from the safety of the shade. Roman’s family had provided the picnic basket and food, Patton’s the treats and toys, and Logan’s the umbrella and sunscreen. 

They were all tired at the end of the day, heading back to Patton’s for showers and then a sleepover in the den, but it was definitely worth it for the great time they had had. Of course, they all said they’d do their best to spend time together over the summer, but plans just had a way of not coming together. 

Logan and his dads were going on vacation, having explained that in his family, they alternated who would choose their yearly vacation destination. It was his father’s turn, and they were off to Philadelphia to see several historic sights. Despite his quiet demeanor and general aloofness when it came to things, the three of them could see that Logan was honestly quite excited in his own way to learn what the city had to offer. Patton and his parents were going to go visit his older sister in New York where she went to college, as well as spend some time in the city. They’d be gone for just about half the summer and were leaving only a few days after Roman’s birthday. Virgil wasn’t going far, his father’s house was only a couple hours away by train, but it was far enough that Roman was definitely feeling fairly alone for the summer. 

Of course they all texted and shared pictures of what they were doing, Patton and Logan both planning to bring back souvenirs, but Roman was still going moderately crazy being stuck at home with his family all summer. The twins were going to be going off to college on football scholarships but hadn’t left yet, Ray had already received his degree and just took classes that interested him at a nearby school when he wanted to, and Ronnie… Roman honestly had no idea what he did. He had started spending a lot of time at a coffee shop, but never gave anyone any details beyond that.

All that mattered to him was that his house was full and it was the worst. He only made it a few weeks into summer before texting Virgil and asking if there was anyway he could come visit him at his Dad’s house. Virgil had to ask his dad, but it turned out that he didn’t mind having his son’s boyfriend come stay for a little while. The Princes also had no problem with the arrangement, and it was only a couple days later that Roman was packed up with a bag for the week and Rose was hugging him goodbye before he climbed onto the train. 

Virgil was so excited, him and his dad waiting for Roman at the station, the emo rushing forward to give his boyfriend a hug as soon as he appeared. Roman was giggling as he hugged him back, nestling into his hold. Virgil felt himself relax at the sound, not having even realized he had been at all tense prior to that moment. They separated and Virgil led Roman over to his dad and then to the car, having a lot planned for the week his boyfriend would be there. 

He took him around his hometown, showing him all his favorite spots and introducing him to all of his friends. They were a good amount more Virgil’s aesthetic and certainly hadn’t expected such a peppy little person to be the boyfriend their friend was so gone for. But it was pretty hard not to warm up to the freckled little sunshine boy, so soon enough it was clear that he had been accepted into the little group. 

Of course the week had gone by far too quickly, summer still only about half way through when Roman had to go back home. He was going to try and come visit again before summer was out, and maybe even see if he could bring Patton, but they were both fairly sure as Roman got back onto the train that it would probably not be until right before school that they saw each other. 

At least when Roman got home it was only a few days before Patton and his family returned from vacation. In an attempt to escape his full house, the small teen ended up managing to spend essentially the entirety of the rest of the summer over at the Baker house. Both Logan and Virgil didn’t make it back into town until just before school was set to start, but both of them were roped into back to school shopping the last weekend before school, so they didn’t all reunite until the first day back. 

Roman and Patton were there first, both waiting for the other two to arrive with excitement. Roman had texted their group chat a few days before, telling them he had something really exciting to tell them, but they weren’t going to get to know until they were all together. So when Virgil strolled up first, Roman immediately flowed into his arms in greeting, but he still didn’t tell his friends what it was. Virgil really didn’t mind, he was just glad to see them both again, having really missed the two energetic boys after being with his more lowkey friends for the entire summer. 

They had been talking a bit, Roman with an arm wrapped around Virgil’s waist, when Logan finally walked up. Conversation completely halted as the fourth member of their group joined them. All of them turning and their eyes having to flick upward to meet Logan’s face. He had always been the tallest of them, with Virgil in second, but it definitely seemed like their beloved nerd had had quite the growth spurt over summer. 

“Wow, Lo! Look at you!” Patton smiled, looking up at him. Virgil had glanced over at Patton and also noticed that he had grown as well, his more pastel friend much closer to himself in height than he remembered before he had left for summer. 

“…I have to presume you are referring to my height?” Logan asked, glancing around at them. 

“Well, it’s kinda hard to miss.” Virgil laughed lightly. 

It was then that Roman drew attention back to himself, the smallest teen making a sound to go along with the pout on his face. His boyfriend couldn’t help but chuckle, looking down at him. “…Everything alright, Ro?” 

He huffed slightly. “Why did you all have to get taller?! It’s not fair! Especially you, Lo!” He pouted, but the tone of his voice easily conveyed he was only playfully upset. 

“Roman, you say that as though I have control over my genetics. Besides, Virgil is still nearly as tall as I am.” Logan softly rolled his eyes. 

“…Lo, you’re a good bit taller than Virge.” Patton added, looking over at them both. 

“…Virgil. Stand up straight.” Logan sighed, looking at their thin friend, hunched forward in his large hoodie. 

“Ughhh, whhhhy?” Virgil groaned, actually rolling his shoulders back and showing that Logan had a point, the emo wasn’t far behind in size. 

This only caused Roman to pout once more, looking up at Virgil with a look of mock betrayal. “Even my boyfriend! Turning on me!” He dramatically lamented, bringing his hand to his forehead. 

Virgil rolled his eyes and pulled Roman’s back against his chest, finding that when he stood up straight he could just lean forward and rest his chin comfortably on the bed of Roman’s soft curls.

Patton was giggling at his friends’ antics when he suddenly turned to Roman. “Oh! Roman! What was the thing you wanted to tell us?” 

Roman’s cheeks went pink, looking down. “Uhh.. It’s.. Not important.” He mumbled. 

“Come on, Ro. You were so excited to tell us. What is it?” Virgil asked, a bit more softly as he looked down from his perch atop his head. 

It took a long while for Roman to answer, his voice laced with soft embarrassment as he sighed. “….I was going to tell you all that I grew.” 


	15. Junior year

Junior year began pretty similarly to sophomore year, but now that Roman was in the next level of the theater class, he was much more excited than he had been for past years. It was his last class of the day, so even though his three friends all had classes in a completely different area at that time, he was still excited to head to that part of the school at the end of the day as they all walked in another direction.

His friends were very happy for him, not having seen him so excited about anything having to do with school before. Roman gushed about his assignments at lunch, telling them about his monologues, songs, and short scenes he did in class with his classmates. He was making friends as well, telling them how they partnered and grouped up in class for different things. Virgil had been slightly worried about him fitting in in class, the things he’d heard about tight cliques had given him some concerns for his silly little boyfriend, so that news had been more than relieving. 

It was only a few weeks into school that the auditions for the first play of the year rolled around, Roman of course planning to audition and preparing his monologue. He had been a little more nervous for this one than he had been for the musical, but his friends all reassured him that he would definitely do great. There was no denying his singing voice, but he had been a natural up on the stage in general as well. They’d all ended up hearing his audition monologue countless times in the last few days before the audition, Virgil more than anyone else, but they were happy to encourage him.

When Roman rushed to them all at lunch one day, a bit late as he had made a detour to the theater department, he was beaming as he told them he had been cast in the play. It wasn’t a lead or anything, but he had a solid part with a fair bit of speaking lines. He began memorizing his lines when they would work on homework together, occasionally asking for help running a scene in the same way that they’d all ask each other for help with their other homework. 

One day when they all arrived to school, they couldn’t help but notice that Roman’s wild hair was shorter with more defined curls, not unlike Ronnie’s minus the colorful streaks. It was like the glasses situation all over again, Roman nervously explaining that a few of his theater friends wanted to help him prepare for the role and asked if he wanted help calming down his hair. He explained that two friends, Brittany and Valerie, had given him some product to try as well as actually taking him in to the bathroom backstage and cutting his hair for him with his permission. 

In retrospect, that could have gone rather poorly, which Virgil had to bite his tongue to keep from saying aloud, but it had turned out really well. Patton still happily ruffled it up, but now Roman was able to use his fingers to get it back into place. And seeing as it had remained soft and his boyfriend was happy with it, Virgil just happily took his spot behind him and rested his chin atop his head as he held him close like nothing had changed. 

While Roman was having such a good time in theater, the other boys had also been settling happily into their classes. Now that they were upperclassmen, Patton finally managed to get into the cooking class, all of his friends benefitting since it was the class he had right before lunch. Logan had picked up an anatomy class, quickly becoming fascinated with the human body and learning all of its internal workings. Virgil was in the advanced art class, enjoying being able to do more with a hobby he enjoyed. 

Now that he spent more time in the art hallway, Virgil was really getting a bigger taste of some of the things that had used to get to Roman so much. Ronnie had really left his mark all over this area of the school. Them all having showing Virgil the big mural Ronnie had painted when they gave him that tour had obviously gotten the point across, but now that he spend time in the actual art rooms... It was fairly hard to escape the name R. Prince on a lot of the example works around the room. It was odd now that Virgil had a face to put to the names, actually knowing the difference between the R. Prince on the valedictorian banner, the R. Prince in the art hallway, and the R. Prince he saw on sports trophies in the gym. He’d gotten to know the Prince family at least somewhat well at this point and they were all so different, it was odd to him to remember that most people who saw multiple of this name probably thought it was all one all-encompassing past student. 

Not dwelling on it for too long, Virgil just enjoyed his class, his boyfriend, and his friends as junior year progressed. It felt like no time at all before they were all once again off to see Roman’s play. They met up with a portion of the Prince family this time, the twins off at college and Ray having gone back as well to pick up a few classes. So Virgil, Logan, and Patton greeted Rose, Rich, and Ronnie as they met them in the foyer, the six of them off to find seats. The teens couldn’t help but notice that Ronnie seemed to be in a good mood, texting consistently while they were in the foyer and continuing when they got to their seats.

Patton pointed out an unfamiliar pair of aviators sitting atop his head, as well as a braided orange bracelet on his wrist, suspecting that neither item belonged to him originally. Patton definitely seemed invested in finding out what Ronnie was up to, even though Logan didn’t understand what the fuss was about, and Virgil was a bit too distracted by the play about to go on. 

Thankfully, Rose made sure Ronnie put his phone away and didn’t bring it out through the play, all of them sitting back and watching Roman up on stage. It was only growing clearer that this was definitely what he excelled in, being a natural up on that stage and seeming like he was having all kinds of fun. It was another amazing performance and another big, but not nearly as big as the first time seeing as the twins were absent, dinner for all of them afterward to celebrate Roman. Virgil continued to go to all of his shows, always there to greet him after with a hug as soon as he possibly could.

The rest of the semester seemed as though it would end fairly normally, nothing too interesting to report, when one day at lunch Patton came rushing up holding a brightly colored piece of paper. 

“You guys! Look look look!” He said excitedly, sliding into his seat next to Logan and slamming the page down for his friends to read. 

They all looked over it, trying to see what it was that had Patton so enthusiastic. 

“...A talent show?” Logan asked, looking over to Patton. 

“Yeah! The upperclassmen have a talent show every year and we’re actually upperclassmen now!” Patton explained, gesturing to the line on the page. “And there’s a winner, voted on by everyone who attends!”

“...Ok.. But, uh.. What about it?” Virgil asked, genuinely confused why he had brought them this information.

Patton gave his friends a slight look, his voice taking on that tone that showed he felt what he was saying was obvious. “Weeeellllllll.... If someone had a crazy amazing talent... Maybe they could enter, and totally definitely win! And it would be so great, and we could cheer them on!” 

It clicked with Logan and Virgil at that point, but Roman was still looking at Patton with confusion. “...Ok? But who?” He asked, looking back at his friend. 

The three of them all silently reached forward to touch the paper, sliding it all together until it was directly infront of Roman. His eyes widened, looking around at all of them. “Me?” 

“Of course! You could sing! You’re just so talented, Ro! It would be amazing! You’d win for sure!” Patton nodded wildly, bouncing somewhat in his seat. 

“Patton has a point, you do have a natural talent. I’m sure you would do quite well if you entered.” Logan nodded, albeit much more calmly. 

“Yeah, I bet you’d probably win. You’re amazing.” Virgil added softly, leaning over to press a kiss to the side of his head. 

Roman blushed bright red, both at the small token of affection and at all of the praise. “Um.. I don’t know.. I... I’m better at the.. Play stuff.” He murmured slightly, not at all sounding like he believed his own argument, which his friends immediately picked up on. 

“Well... You don’t have to.. But hey, maybe it’ll help you get a better part in the musical! I’m sure all the theater people will be involved!” Patton offered. 

“It could, giving you an opportunity to show how well you can do with a full song on your own, rather than a short audition piece or being part of the chorus.” Logan nodded.

Virgil just gave Roman a soft squeeze, pulling him closer. “And we’d all be there, you know we wouldn’t miss it for anything.” 

Roman was still blushing, but he picked up the paper and read over it again, putting it down after a moment and smiling wide. “...Ok.. I’m gonna do it.” 


	16. The Talent Show

Roman signed up for the talent show, taking the better part of the time between the sign up and the actual show to choose what he was going to sing. He was a bit torn on what would be the best thing for him to do, not sure if he should do a higher song or a lower one. As it had turned out, while the other three had spent most of the summer getting taller, Roman’s biggest change was actually in his voice. He got embarrassed at how often it had been cracking when he spoke, and every so often he’d catch it doing so while he was singing. 

* * *

It didn’t bother him, but it was very clear that his younger voice and its ability to hit those high notes wasn’t going to be sticking around. He still could for now, but he had a few more weeks until the show and he didn’t know which way to go to ensure he’d be able to pull it off well. In the end, he spoke to the music director who was taking care of all the music acts and asked for their advice. They ended up helping him choose a higher song, but teaching him to practice it in a lower octave.

He explained this to his non-musically inclined friends, who remained supportive, but definitely didn’t exactly follow what that meant. Roman just smiled and laughed a bit, explaining that he was going to sing a song originally sung by a woman, but make it lower so he could do it easier and make it sound better for him. Collectively they nodded in understanding, Roman still just chuckling at his friends.

With his song chosen, he had begun practicing a lot more around the house, trying to really nail the lower notes that he’d never really had to hit before. One day when he was practicing in his room, Ronnie pushed the door open and leaned against his doorframe, looking at him. 

“Hey munchkin.” He began, Roman already sighing as he turned to look at him.

“What, Ronnie? Am I being too loud?” The younger brother looked up at him, waiting to see what he wanted. 

“Eh, a little. But that’s not what I came here for.” Ronnie smiled, cartoonishly bringing his hand closer to his face to inspect his fingernails. “What are you planning on wearing to this talent show thing?” 

“Uh.. Wearing? I don’t know... What I usually wear, I guess?” Roman shrugged, looking a bit confused. 

“You’re still always in mine and Ray’s old stuff, and those also went through the  _tweedles_  before they made it to you. So they are all super stretched out.” The two brothers couldn’t help but share muffled snickers into their hands at the way Ronnie described their brothers. 

Roman was still smiling when he pulled his hand away, looking back at him. “Well.. I never thought about getting anything else. These were just always here.” 

“Exactly. We need to find you some better stuff. At least help you get an idea of what you like.” Ronnie straightened up, no longer leaning as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. 

“...We do?” Roman tilted his head to the side. 

“Yes. Now come on, we’re going to the mall.” Ronnie smirked, spinning his key ring on the end of his finger. Roman smiled, nodding and getting his phone and wallet before following after him.

The two brothers took off to the mall, Ronnie walking him around to different stores so he could try things on. Roman was a little self conscious to start, never having enjoyed comparing himself physically to any of his brothers, especially now that he and Ronnie were shopping for clothes for him and he had to tell him his sizes. But Ronnie didn’t take the low ground, he just nodded and wandered around, grabbing things for his younger brother to try. 

Roman was internally exceptionally grateful, looking around at all the clothes to try and figure out what he’d actually like to wear. He’d never thought about his own style before. Ray dressed smart, always in vests or open button ups over long sleeves... Ronnie was artsy, his clothes in some sort of fashion that Roman never understood, and mostly covered in splatters of paint... Rufus and Russell were sporty, basketball shorts, tank tops, and running shoes. None of those things were him, he knew that. 

He ended up settling on some solid colored shirts, mostly white and a few others, as well as a few new pairs of jeans. Red sneakers were really his only signature thing, Ronnie insisting on getting him a new pair. They were just about to call it a day, they hadn’t exactly found a style for him but at least he had a few new things that he could call his own, and they had honestly had a lot of fun joking around as they shopped together. They were passing by one last shop when Roman stopped, causing Ronnie to pause and turn back to look at him.

“...Can we go in here?” He asked, a little shyly. 

Ronnie raised an eyebrow but shrugged. “Sure thing, munchkin. Lead the way.”

Roman normally at least grimaced at Ronnie’s nickname for him, but he just completely ignored it as he ducked into the clothing store. Something caught his eye... Something he wanted. He walked right up to a jacket hanging up on the wall. It was mostly red, but the sleeves were white. The slightly high collar matched the bottom band of the jacket, as well as the cuffs of the sleeves, red adorned with two thick white stripes. But the snaps and the pocket linings were gold. 

“....Do you like that?” Ronnie asked, stepping up next to his small brother to look over what his eyes were glued to. 

“...Yeah, it’s really cool.” Roman nodded, looking up at his brother. Ronnie gave him a little smile before walking off to ask an employee to pull it down, Roman overhearing him calling it a ‘Varsity style bomber jacket,’ but all that mattered was that he wanted to try it on. 

They got the jacket pulled down in his size, it definitely a little big in the shoulders and long in the sleeves, but if he wanted to be able to snap it shut, that was the one. Ronnie chuckled slightly, of course his brother still ended up picking something that didn’t quite fit him. But..

“Is that the one?” He asked, watching Roman smiling at his reflection in the mirror.

He turned to look up at him, beaming from ear to ear. “Yeah! Can I get it, Ronnie?” 

“For sure, munchkin. Come on.” 

The two of them left the shop, Roman’s new jacket in the bag and him still smiling. Ronnie had mentioned he had someone he wanted to take the jacket to before Roman could wear it, something about having an idea for something they could do with it. He was a little bit skeptical about most of Ronnie’s ideas, given his track record, but he had just taken him out and bought it for him... So he agreed to entrust it to his brother for the time being. 

He was without it long enough that he had nearly forgotten about it, Ronnie not actually getting the jacket back to Roman until a day before the talent show. He turned up in Roman’s room the night before, holding a bag out toward him. 

“What’s this?” Roman asked, taking the bag. 

“It’s your jacket. I have a... Friend who’s really good with a sewing machine. The jacket looked a little plain without the usual letterman stuff, so he did some customizations on it.” Ronnie explained, leaning against the doorframe and watching as Roman quickly pulled the jacket out of the bag. 

The first thing he noticed made him laugh, on the left side of the chest, a crown patch had been added. Their family had always had a running thing with royal jokes, so the crown fit that well. 

“Flip it around. Those jackets always have people’s last names on them.” Ronnie said, watching him smile over the crown logo. 

Roman’s heart sunk. He didn’t want another thing so obviously making him a Prince. The crown was one thing, it was just a little insignia. But the word Prince literally written across his shoulders was something else entirely. With slightly shaking fingers he flipped it over, reading the word there with disbelief.  _Roman_. 

He looked up at Ronnie, seeing his brother smiling at him. “...I didn’t think that would go over well in this family though. Didn’t want the twins thinking it was their’s.” Roman smiled, looking over his very own name on his very own jacket. He didn’t know what to say. So he settled for rushing forward and giving his brother a hug, smiling as he squeezed him tight. Ronnie just smiled, hugging his brother. 

The jacket was immediately going to become Roman’s staple article of clothing, him wearing it to school the next day and showing it off to his friends and his boyfriend. He had never been so happy about any sort of clothing in his life, them all loving the excitement he had in showing it to them. That night was also the talent show, them all giving Roman extra encouragement as it drew nearer. But he wasn’t nervous, he was exhilarated. He couldn’t wait. 

The day flew by, once again having to separate from his friends so he could go prepare back stage. 

Virgil took his seat in the theater when they let everyone in, holding tight onto the voting ballot that they handed out to everyone who walked in. The acts were all listed on the ballot in the order they’d go on so people could place their votes at the end of the show. Of course he and Patton had been assuring Roman over and over again that he would win, Logan agreeing that he had a high chance with his talents. But Roman had continued to be humble about it, just happy to go on and perform like he was discovering he loved to do. He didn’t care if he won. 

Soon, the show began, the acts going on one by one. There were a few singers, musicians, a magic act or two, and a couple others, but Virgil and his group were all waiting for Roman. His name was called, them watching as their boy walked out to center stage and up to the mic. The previous act had also been a singer, Roman having to lower the mic stand a bit and Virgil angrily shifting his eyes at a few snickers he heard in the audience as he did so. 

Those small laughs died quickly though, the upbeat music starting up and Roman beginning to belt out the lyrics.   
_  
_“Baby, look at me_  
_And tell me what you see_  
_You ain't seen the best of me yet_  
_Give me time  
__I'll make you forget the rest_

_I got more in me_  
And you can set it free  
I can catch the moon in my hand  
Don't you know who I am

_Remember my name, fame_  
I'm gonna live forever  
I'm gonna learn how to fly, high”  
__  
  
Virgil loved the song he chose, realizing it meant more to Roman than most would have any way of knowing. He sat back in his seat, completely entranced by the music, but still taking that same special satisfaction as people let out surprised breaths, them not having expected this small boy to be able to sing so beautifully. Roman was smiling as he sang, his voice lower and richer than it had been the year before. Virgil swore that when his boyfriend finished singing that the applause for him had been louder than any of the previous acts... And no, he wasn’t biased in the slightest. __  


Once the show ended, the announcer reminded everyone to drop their ballots in the voting box on their way out, explaining that the results would be posted up in the foyer on Monday after school and would remain there until the following year.

The boys then proceeded to have a great weekend, celebrating Roman and still assuring him was definitely going to win. The blushing teen just smiled and waved it off, still just glad he had done it at all, having had a lot of fun. 

They had all agreed to meet in the foyer after school on Monday, knowing Roman would be there first since his last class was in that hallway. So once school had let out, the three friends met up and began the walk to that side of the school, talking and laughing as they went. They had just reached the doors to the foyer when they burst open and Roman rushed right through them, obviously distraught. They all froze, watching as he just rushed straight past the three of them and dashed down the theater hallway, disappearing through a doorway. 

The three of them looked at each other, having no idea what had just happened. Logan took a calculating look at the foyer doors Roman had come through before pulling them open and going inside. Patton and Virgil were immediately at his heels, hoping to find the source of what had Roman so upset.

There on the wall was a sign that listed the first, second, and third place winners of the talent show. First place at the top, and then descending downward.

Oh. 

First Place Talent Show Winner _: R. Prince._


	17. Backstage

The three of them stood there for a moment, Virgil’s eyes tracing over the name over and over again. In a way, this was great. Roman had been recognized for his talent. He had won. But for the most part, this was literally everything he didn’t want. They all knew that. 

Patton was the first to break the silence. “…We have to go find him.” 

“Yes… I do believe he could use us at the moment.” Logan nodded. 

“He ran off toward the backstage of the theater… But I’ve never been back there. I don’t know where he could have gone.” Patton said, his eyes big and sad as they flicked back and forth between the two other boys. 

“Neither have I.” Logan admitted, both of the bespectacled teens turning to look at Virgil. 

The emo teen thought for a moment, trying to remember what Roman had told him about the theater. A lightbulb went off. “…I never have either. But… I think I know exactly where he is. Let’s go.” Virgil nodded once before rushing off through the doors and down that hallway after Roman.

The two of them followed him as he went, right at his heels as he pushed the door to the backstage open and proceeded onward. None of them knew this area, but Roman had talked about it several times. Virgil was looking for…. There. That door. 

Virgil knocked softly on the door to the storage room before pulling it open. It wasn’t a large room, one wall lined with shelves that held props from plays over the years, and the far wall had a long bar that the costumes were hung from. Roman had mentioned liking this little room, he loved the costumes and the props, enjoying hanging out in here when he got the chance so he could look over everything. 

And there he was, sitting against the wall under the hanging dresses and coats, arms curled around his knees. They heard a little sniff and all headed in, Patton leaving the door cracked open behind them. 

“…Ro?” Virgil called softly, dropping to his knees to bring himself closer to his boyfriend. 

Roman just sniffed again, raising his head from his arms to look at him. Virgil had never seen him so upset, he couldn’t help but scoot forward to sit beside him, softly putting an arm around his shoulders but ready incase Roman pulled away. He did exactly the opposite, burying against his boyfriend and wrapping his arms around his waist. Virgil immediately pulled him in close, holding him tight to him. 

Logan and Patton knelt down infront of the two, ready to assist and help talk Roman through what happened. They sat quietly for a moment, Virgil at least able to tell that the smallest teen had gotten somewhat less tense with them there.

It was a few quiet minutes, the only sounds they could hear were Roman’s occasional sniffs, before he spoke up. “…I shouldn’t have done the dumb show.” 

“Ro… You had fun. That’s what matters.” Patton responded softly. 

“…No. I.. I should have known. I should have known I would just end up as another one of them.” Roman shook his head, barely pulling away from Virgil’s chest to look at his other two friends. 

“…Roman… This isn’t your thing. You’re an amazing singer, but this isn’t going to be what people remember you for. You aren’t going to just be another one of them. You’re you, Roman. You’ve always been you, and you do things in your own way. That’s what matters. Don’t be upset that you did it.. You had so much fun, Ro. You were amazing up there and we could see you were enjoying yourself. That’s the most important thing. You were having a great time, and we all loved seeing you. That’s what people will remember. You. Not the name.” Patton explained, looking back at him softly, reaching out to rest a hand on his small friend’s leg. 

Roman looked at him for a long moment, trying to believe him. Wanting to. But.. “…Pat, even if I did have fun… This is still being them. This is still that same name on the wall. People just see the name, they won’t remember the performance.” He said sadly, looking back into his boyfriend’s chest and away from his friend’s eyes. 

Patton was at a loss, turning to Logan for help. Their friend only took a moment before he chimed in. “Roman, it isn’t the same. Your brother’s names… They’re permanent. The valedictorian banner, the mural, the trophies… That is what they left. But this.. This is temporary. You won’t be represented by the same name in a year, it will come down. It’s separate, and it’s different. This isn’t your mark upon the school. It isn’t like them.” Logan tried.

Roman once again seemed torn, he wanted to.. He really did… “I’m still stuck, Lo. I’m just the fifth Prince. I’m part of a matched set… But I don’t even match. I’m an R. Prince. It’s what I am. It’s… All I am.” He sniffed hard, leaning his face heavily into Virgil again. 

Virgil squeezed him close, looking up at Patton and Logan who both seemed to be stuck. Virgil had never thought of himself as the comforting type… But for Roman, he’d try. 

“…Ro.” He said gently, bringing his hand up his boyfriend’s arm to softly press on his chin, encouraging his boyfriend to look at him. Roman complied, looking up at his boyfriend with the saddest, reddest, green eyes he’d ever seen. All Roman could do in response was raise an eyebrow, looking back at him like he hoped more than anything that his boyfriend had the answer to everything. 

Virgil took a breath before trailing his eyes down Roman’s arm once again and letting his gaze catch on the cuff of his sleeve. He softly took it into his hand and lifted Roman’s arm so the end of the sleeve was up in front of his face. “…It’s like.. It’s like your jacket, Ro.” 

Roman was confused, looking down at the sleeve. His voice came out a bit watery. “…Like my jacket?” 

“Yeah. It’s… You’re you. This jacket, it’s you. The bright red that you can’t miss…” Virgil smiled gently and ran a hand up the sleeve. “The soft parts that the people closest to you know about…” His hand came to rest on the little crown on the chest, gently tracing it. “Yes, you’re a Prince. You can’t do anything about that. It’s part of it all… But it’s a small part. But do you know the most important part?” Virgil asked with another little smile. 

Roman shook his head, looking back at him. 

“The Roman part. It says Roman in big letters right across the shoulders where everyone can see it. The Prince part is there, but it’s not the part that matters, not the part that people will remember. You are one of your family, Ro. But no matter what, you aren’t like them. You are putting yourself out there. You are being yourself. No matter what, you are making things your own. No matter what, you are you and no one else.” Virgil said softly, looking down at him with a gentle expression. 

Roman looked up into Virgil’s eyes for several moments, trying to take everything he said to heart. He thought over his boyfriend’s and his best friends’ words, not taking his eyes off of Virgil’s as he did. It took a few moments before Roman cracked a little smile. The emo teen’s own smile widened in response, giving his boyfriend a little squeeze before speaking once again. 

“Besides. You have us three, Ro. We’re not gonna let you be an R. Prince. As long as we’re around, we’re gonna make sure you aren’t anything but Roman.” Virgil leaned in, pressing a little kiss to his forehead. 

Roman let out a small giggle, smiling at Virgil and then at Patton and Logan. “…Promise?” He asked.

“Pinky promise!” Patton answered immediately, holding out his pinky. Roman leaned forward, still giggling, locking his pinky with Patton’s. Virgil also leaned in to add his pinky, smiling to the two of them. They all looked to Logan, who let out a small breath of bemused laughter before also adding his own pinky. 

The four of them laughed a bit, leaving their fingers locked for a few moments before pulling away. Logan and Patton stood first, reaching down to help the two of them to their feet. Once they were up, Roman took Virgil’s hand, them leading all of them out of the storage closet and back to the hallway so they could get out of there. 

Roman might be planning to avoid the foyer for the foreseeable future… But at least he knew he had three people by his side to support him no matter what happened.


	18. Camp?

With his friends and boyfriend by his side, Roman definitely felt at least a bit better. He still wasn’t exactly happy… Wasn’t happy at all, honestly, about the name on that poster. But he could push it from his mind for the time being. At least it wouldn’t always be there. So he just threw himself harder into theater, he was having a lot of fun with it and that was what mattered.

It was after the talent show that he learned there was actually a theater competition that the school competed in every year, apparently it was a lot of what the advanced theater class focused on, but he was only in the intermediate class. So next year, he’d actually be able to participate in it! His friends he’d been in the plays with had told him that it was a big event, with different kinds of categories for awards, and a great prep for the competition was this big summer-long acting camp that a lot of them were going to try and get to go to. 

Besides the fact that it would help prepare for the competition though, it would just be a lot of fun and a great learning experience for people who were interested in theater itself. He learned they taught several different things related to plays, focusing on things like costume design and tailoring, stage/set design and building, tech stuff like lighting and sound, makeup and hair, and of course, different types of acting. It was also apparently set up in a way where you did some of everything, then toward the end you could focus more on what you wanted for the remainder of the summer.

Roman had never had something he wanted to go to more. It sounded like so much fun, and he could actually learn a bunch of theater things hands on. …They did mention it had a bit of a hefty price tag on it, and it was actually far enough away that he’d have to take a plane. Not to mention he’d be gone for the entire summer. He didn’t want to leave his friends and boyfriend for that long… He knew he’d miss them a lot, but… What was he supposed to do?

He brought it up to them shyly one day at lunch, a bit of the way into second semester. Explaining all he heard about it, unable to keep his voice from getting exponentially more excited as he went on. By the end, the three other teens couldn’t keep the fond smiles from their faces, easily able to see how badly he wanted to go.

“…You should do it, Ro. You’d have an amazing time.” Virgil spoke up once Roman had finished, smiling warmly down at his boyfriend.

“I just.. It’s going to be all summer. I’d miss you guys so much.” Roman said a bit softly, leaning more into Virgil.

“It’s only one summer, just a few months! We’ll all be here when you get back and we can text all the time!” Patton piped up, bouncing a bit in his seat just from secondhand excitement.

“It seems like quite an opportunity, Roman. I’m sure you would not only enjoy yourself, but it would also be quite beneficial. I’d recommend a bit more research, but if it is as you have described then I believe it is not an event you should miss.” Logan added. 

Roman smiled at all of them but did hesitate slightly. “…I still need to talk to my parents. Apparently it’s pretty expensive. So I have to see what they think.” 

“I’m sure they’ll support you, Ro. And hopefully they can help you get there.” Virgil nodded, trying to seem sure for him. 

“And if not, we’ll find a way to get you there! I’ll go to work with my mom and make extra money!” Patton added, still beaming from ear to ear.

“I’m sure you won’t need to do that, Pat. But.. Thank you.” Roman laughed softly, looking around at his friends. 

Roman was still a bit nervous when he got home that night, waiting until after dinner and catching his parents in the living room watching some shows before bed. Ronnie had gone out the moment they’d finished dinner, saying he had somewhere to be, but that was more than fine for Roman. He had gone upstairs and gotten his laptop, pulling up all the information he could find for the camp and looking over it himself before bringing the computer downstairs with him. He reached the bottom of the stairs and looked over to see his parents sitting together on the couch. 

Roman took a steadying breath before he drew their attention. “…Mom? Dad? Can I talk to you about something?” 

Both of his parents turned, obviously a bit concerned as they sat up straighter and muted the volume on the television. “Of course, Roman. Do you want to come sit down?” Rose nodded to an armchair next to the couch. 

He just nodded and moved closer, heading for the armchair that was obviously meant for someone with longer legs than his own, perching on the edge with his computer in his lap. “I.. uh.. It’s not bad! I promise! I just wanted to ask you about.. Umm.. There’s this really cool acting camp I wanted to tell you about.” 

Rose and Rich both visibly relaxed, looking back at their youngest fondly. Rich glanced back at the television and grabbed the remote to completely turn it off before turning and giving him his full attention. “I want to hear  _allllll_  about it, son.” He smiled warmly, Roman’s face completely lighting up as he turned the computer in his lap and showed them. 

Roman explained every aspect of the activities described on the website, showing them pictures and telling them all of what his friends had told him about. He didn’t even notice that he had apparently gotten up and moved to sit between them on the couch with the laptop on his lap so they could see better. But they both had just leaned in to look, letting him tell them absolutely everything. His parents shared a few fond looks over their son’s head before looking back down at the screen and continuing to listen in. 

Once he had finished, an unknown amount of time later, he looked up excitedly at his parents, happy to see them both smiling. He glanced back down at the site, clicking on the enrolling page and being reminded all at once at how expensive this was going to be. His joy faltered slightly. 

“So.. uh.. That’s everything. I.. I know it’s really expensive though. So.. Um.. That’s the only issue.” He finished, his voice dropping. 

“…Ro, don’t worry about the price. You never ask us for anything. We can get you to camp.” Rich replied softly, reaching to gently pat him on the shoulder. 

Roman’s eyes lit up, staring back at his dad. “Thanks, Dad! I.. Are you really really sure? I could try and help pay for it if you want!” He offered, eyes hopeful. 

Rich just let out a little laugh. “Roman, we’ve paid for so many college classes, art supplies, training sessions… Not to mention books, clothes, and gear… This is the least we can do. Don’t worry about a thing, alright? Now let’s get you signed up and figure out all you’re going to need.” He wrapped an arm around his son’s shoulders and pulled him in for a side hug, Roman immediately hugging him back as hard as he could.

“Thank you so much! I’m so excited! Thank you thank you thank you!” Roman could hardly contain his glee, sitting there with his parents as they got him signed up for the camp, the three of them starting to make a list of all they’d need to prepare him for the summer. He just couldn’t wait. 


	19. Camp.

Roman had been beyond excited to tell his friends he was going to be able to go to the acting camp, telling them all about it Monday morning before school. Over the weekend his parents had taken him to get his own set of luggage and some new clothes, the camp recommended a good amount of mostly plain black shirts and pants. Apparently they’d need them for both backstage tech work and they also wouldn’t get as dirty when they had to build and construct sets and props. They weren’t going to be in the middle of no where, if they needed anything they’d be able to go out to a nearby shopping center on designated days, but they were still encouraged to be as prepared as possible.

At lunch he laid out all he learned upon enrolling, promising to keep in touch whenever he could. The cell service was supposedly not amazing, reviews saying it could be difficult to send pictures and phone calls had a tendency to drop, but texting seemed to be like it would work well enough. 

Roman’s excitement took him right through to the end of the school year, with only a brief pause to focus on that year’s musical. He, of course, had gotten a part. It wasn’t a lead, but it was bigger than the year before for sure, he had way more lines and he spent a lot more time on stage. Virgil, still not biased, felt like Roman was a better singer and actor than the student who had gotten the male lead… But he knew Roman was happy, and he wasn’t going to do anything to rain on his parade. So he just smiled and sat back, enjoying every moment that he could of the performances until the show ended. 

From there, it was just the end of the year left and Roman was back to happily buzzing about the camp. He had somewhat forgotten about his hangup about not seeing his friends or boyfriend for an entire summer, until they had all met up and had their big beach trip for his birthday. It made the trip a little more important to him, making sure to spend as much time as he could with each of them while they were all together. He built more sandcastles with Patton, listened to Logan explain the tides, spent extra time in Virgil’s arms on the beach blanket. He made sure to make the most of the entire day. 

It still went by exceptionally fast, and it was no time at all before he was giving huge hugs to Logan and Patton, promising they’d all keep in touch. Virgil actually rode along with him, Rich, and Rose to the airport to drop him off a couple days later. The two boys sat in the back seat, holding hands and leaning together, just enjoying some soft quiet time before they would be apart for a few months. 

Virgil walked him into the airport once they arrived, having to help his small boyfriend with the large luggage that he was struggling with, taking it over to where they could get the bag checked. After that was handled, he walked him as close to his gate as he could before they just turned to each other and immediately melted into each other’s arms. Roman’s slid so perfectly under his own, them wrapping each other in a tight embrace for several moments before they had to pull away. The smaller boy pushed up onto his toes to give his boyfriend a kiss, Virgil leaning in to meet him. 

Their goodbye took longer than they really should have let it take, but neither of them were going to rush for anything. They did have to pull apart, Virgil being the one to finally say Roman needed to go so he didn’t miss his flight. It was another hug and a couple more kisses before they parted ways, the two waving until they were just out of sight from each other. 

As soon as Roman made it to his gate, the two were texting. Once he boarded the flight, Virgil didn’t hear from him until he landed, them able to talk a bit until another big gap in phone service. When Roman checked in again, he explained he had made it to the camp itself and gotten his bunk and met his cabin mates. They were in camp cabins, but they only had a few people they shared space with, as well as having large bathrooms and closets… They obviously knew the kind of drama kids they would be working with. 

After that, Roman was mostly able to text his friends, boyfriend, and family when it was after dinner and they were relaxing back in their cabin. Virgil always looked forward to hearing from him, his boyfriend excitedly recounting his day through text. 

Virgil’s phone buzzed. “It’s only the third day and I am exhausted.”

He let out a laugh as he responded. “Yeah? What did you get up to today?” 

“I guess the tailoring part of the camp is summer long, so today we got all our measurements done and started on the costume project. We’re going to make a rough costume they ‘randomly’ assign us, and as we change over summer we’ll keep it tailored to us so by the end we have a custom costume we made ourselves, that fits us exactly. They said we’ll all lose weight and get stronger over summer, which I didn’t believe… But after the set building we did after the costume stuff… I might actually be stronger than you by the time I get back.” 

It took Virgil a moment to read Roman’s paragraph update, but he was smiling when he did. “…Ok, a lot to unpack there, love. First.. Why do you say ‘randomly?’ ..What did you get assigned?” 

Roman didn’t respond for a few good moments. “…a Prince.” 

“….You have to admit that’s funny.” 

“…Maybe a tiny bit.” 

Most of their nights were spent like this, just laughing and keeping each other updated. 

“…Ok, last week was set building but this week is all backstage tech stuff, so I’m still exhausted. I’m so soooore. My bones haaaate me. I haven’t moved this much in my entire life.” 

Virgil couldn’t help but laugh whenever he saw Roman dramatically lamenting. “Sorry, love. …Having fun though?” 

“Definitely.” 

It was about halfway through the summer that Roman had had to text his mom to ask her to transfer him some money so he could buy new clothes. A few of his shirts had gotten ripped, and he said his pants just didn’t fit right. Virgil had been a little worried, he knew that the camp explained that generally students would lose weight from all the activity, but also was quite aware how much his boyfriend loved sweets. But as long as he was having fun, right? 

“Just got back from the mall! Some of my new friends helped me pick out some new clothes, I mostly got more black like they want us to have… But my friends also just seemed to really want to dress me up. I did find a lot of things I really like though!” 

Virgil smiled, even though his concerns weren’t completely gone. “I’m glad! And it makes sense, you’re adorable and around a bunch of fashionable people. You’re like a dream to them.” 

“Baaaaaabe.” 

“I stand behind the statement.” Virgil laughed, able to picture the exact blush Roman undoubtedly had. 

Roman also filled him in on everything he learned about hair and makeup, finding that that was something he also was really enjoying. But it wasn’t a surprise to hear that when given the opportunity to choose their main focus once they’d gotten toward the end of the summer, Roman chose singing and acting specifically. It was his absolute favorite. Virgil loved to read all about his vocal lessons, it obvious that his boyfriend’s strong suit was musical theater above all else. He even laughed aloud when Roman shyly admitted that his prince costume was coming along really nicely, it basically unrecognizable from when they had first started making them. And he actually really liked it. Virgil just smiled, glad that Roman was having such a good time. Even if they definitely missed each other, this was clearly the correct choice. 

That didn’t mean Virgil was any less impatiently counting down the days, the few months of summer going by at a snail’s pace on his end. When he finally finally finally was riding in the car with Ronnie, Rich, and Rose to go pick up Roman from the airport, he nearly couldn’t contain his excitement. 

Rich went to go park the car, letting the other three out to go look for Roman. He had texted them a few minutes prior to let them know his plane had landed and they were being let off, telling them he’d meet them at baggage claim. 

Ronnie was being even more impatient than Virgil felt, looking around and huffing. 

“Ughhh… Where is he? I want to get out of here.” He whined, glancing around the area with the two of them to try and spot Roman.

“I’m sure he’ll be out any minute, Ronnie. It just takes time to walk from the gate.” Rose answered, also looking around. 

Ronnie only groaned again, but he waited at least a couple minutes before piping up once more. “But airports suuuuuuck.” 

“Ronnie. We’ll only be here a few more minutes.” Rose responded, more sternly. 

“I know, I know… But like.. Jeeez, come on. What could be taking that munchkin so long?” 

They all startled slightly at a fairly deep voice from behind them. “Who are you calling a munchkin?” 

They turned around all at once, Ronnie having to flick his gaze upward to meet the green eyes looking down at him and immediately scowling.


	20. Coming Home

The two brothers were locked in each other’s gaze, green eyes looking back into green eyes. Roman quirked an eyebrow, looking down at his brother for the first time in his life. Before the two of them had time to come up with something more to say, Roman had to take a slightly surprised step back as someone had moved in and threw their arms around him. He glanced down to see long blonde hair, which was another sight he’d never seen from the top, and his mouth cracked into a smile. Roman quickly brought his arms up, returning the hug. 

“…Hey, Mom.” 

“Ro, I missed you so much!” Rose said into his shoulder before pulling back to look up at her youngest son. “Oh, sweetie! Look how big and strong you are! I just can’t wait for everyone to see you! They’re going to be so surprised!” 

Roman just let out a little chuckle, a blush spreading across his softly freckled cheeks as they separated. Rose was right, Roman looked so exceptionally different from when he left. He was definitely no longer the smallest of his family, sizing in around the same as their dad. His shoulders had gotten broader, not as broad as his sporty brothers’, but enough to fill out his signature jacket. Far from the small slightly round boy who had left, his wide shoulders tapered down to a pretty thin waist and then into long legs. 

Virgil was absolutely transfixed. He’d always thought his boyfriend was adorable, but now… The only word was gorgeous. The emo had definitely been at the right height to be able to press his lips to Roman’s forehead or temples before this summer began, but now he was pretty sure the roles were reversed. He had no doubt that it would only take a minimal tilt of the head to allow Roman to rest his chin atop Virgil’s head like Virgil had always done to him.

There was no denying that he looked so much more like a Prince now… But he was still so undeniably Roman. His warm, slightly toothy smile and freckled cheeks, his soft curls and sparkling green eyes. Once Virgil had seen that adorable blush spread across his face he couldn’t help but move in right where Rose had just been. For the first time, he tucked himself right against his boyfriend’s, suddenly much broader, chest and wrapped his arms around him. 

Roman immediately smiled from ear to ear, bringing up his arms to wrap around his boyfriend and pulling him in close, able to nestle his face down into his smooth dark hair. 

“…I missed you so much, V.” He said softly, just above Virgil’s ear. 

“I missed you too, Ro.” Virgil responded, squeezing his boyfriend tighter.

They hugged for a good long moment before Ronnie made an impatient sound and the two pulled apart. Roman rolled his eyes at his brother before taking Virgil’s hand and then walking over to the luggage area to find his suitcase. He already had a bag slung over his shoulder, and didn’t even bother to let go of his boyfriend’s hand when he reached down and lifted his bag off the conveyor belt. The image of small Roman struggling with his bag with both hands was clearly in Virgil’s mind as he watched him so easily grab it and then lead him back over to his family so they could leave. 

Rich, of course, also had to comment on his youngest son’s growth spurt once they’d all gotten back to the car before they all moved into talking about how camp had been. Ronnie stayed strangely silent on the trip back, but Roman and Virgil definitely noticed him texting furiously as they went.

Once they arrived back to their house, the two teens watched Ronnie’s eyes scan the street before his face lit up at the sight of a car neither of them recognized parked in front of the house. “….Hey Mom, I’m gonna head out, ok?” He finally piped up as soon as Rich began to slow down and park the car. 

Rose gave him a slight look. “…Who are you going to be out with?” 

“…Just Remy and Reggie.” Ronnie said quietly, looking out the window to hide his expression. 

“Alright, sweetie. Just let me know when you’ll be home, ok?” Rose answered, nodding. 

Roman gave his brother a look, but Ronnie was already opening the door. “Really?! More R’s?!” He called after him. 

“Shut up!” Ronnie called back, slipping through the door and rushing off to the car and sliding in. 

The two teens shared a look, having a feeling there was a story there, but knowing that things were always complicated when it came to Ronnie… It was easiest not to think on it for now. 

“…Is someone in front of the house?” Rich suddenly asked, causing all of them to turn to look out the window toward their home. It definitely seemed that there was someone crouching behind the hedge, them all seeing the shadow.

“…Yeah, it looks like it. But I can’t tell who.” Rose answered. At that, they saw a floofy swoosh of blonde hair appear above the hedge line, coming up just high enough to reveal big eyes behind round glasses before the person suddenly sunk back down to get out of sight. 

The entire car let out a soft collective laugh, recognizing the boy immediately. Virgil opened the back door and slid out so Roman could, but Patton had already leapt up. 

“Welcome home!” He called, holding up an obviously handmade sign. Patton then glanced to the side of him. “Lo! You were supposed to jump out with me!” 

Logan slowly rose to his feet with his arms crossed, wearing a conical party hat that he obviously had not chosen for himself, and with a curled party horn held loosely between his lips. 

Virgil couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he moved out of the way of Roman behind him, his boyfriend able to slide out and see their two friends as well. A wide smile spread across his face as he saw both sets of eyes widen behind their glasses. 

“Oh my goodness! Roman!” Patton called, dropping the sign as he rushed forward to crash right into his no-longer-tiny friend, throwing his arms around him in a hug. Luckily, Roman was easily strong enough to catch him in his arms, the two laughing and hugging as they reunited. Patton pulled back but kept holding him, looking up at his friend. “Pua is all big now!”

Roman laughed, slipping his arms under Patton’s and then lifting him just off the ground so he could twirl the two of them around once. “Yep!” The two of them kept laughing as Logan also walked up, seeming quite surprised that their smallest friend was now the largest of their little group.

“Lo! You came to welcome me home too!” Roman said happily, releasing Patton to also pull Logan into a hug, albeit much less intensive. 

“…Yes. It was his idea to surprise you by being here when you arrived, which I agreed with. …The party elements I was a bit less onboard for.” He said, also bringing his arms up to give his friend a brief hug in welcome. 

“Well either way, I appreciate it. Come on! Let’s all go inside!” Roman laughed, nodding them all toward the door. 

Rich locked the car and lead them up to the door, them somewhat noticing that he was pulling out his wallet and grabbing a bill from it as they made their way up the sidewalk. No one knew what that was about until they all walked in and Rich got Ray’s attention by lightly slapping it down on the dining table next to him. 

Ray looked at the five dollar bill for a moment before laughing and looking up, eyes scanning until he found Roman. “Called it!” He laughed, taking the five and sliding it in his pocket. 

Roman pouted playfully, looking back and forth between his eldest brother and his dad. “Hey! What was the bet?!” 

In unison the two of them glanced at each other and then back at Roman. “…Don’t worry about it.” 

Roman sighed heavily as Ray stood to size up his youngest brother, making it clear that he was still the tallest one in the family. 

“…Shit.” “Is that Ro?” They all turned to see Rufus and Russell had come downstairs and were looking at Roman. 

Roman had never remembered his strong brothers looking so… Reasonable? They had always seemed like giants to him. But now… He walked over to them, letting them get a good look at him as well. They were still the broadest, showing their obvious predisposition to athleticism, but now Roman was just a hair taller than them. The three of them were a bit surprised to reason all that out, but it ended in vague shrugs as they moved apart and Roman went to go stand with his friends.

“Well, we have the weekend before school starts back up… What do you want to do?” Roman asked, looking at the three of them. 

Patton lit up immediately. “Sleepover at my house?!” 

“Disney movies and playing games?!” Roman added in, bouncing on his toes like he always did when he was excited. 

Virgil let out a laugh, smiling wide as he watched Roman being his undoubtedly adorable self. “I’m definitely on board for that.” He moved to put an arm around Roman’s waist, leaning his head against his shoulder. 

All eyes were on Logan who gave a small fond smile, but tried to hide it in one of his trademark sighs. “…I suppose I am too.” 

Patton immediately pulled out his phone to make sure with his parents, Roman giving Virgil a quick kiss before rushing upstairs to get what he’d need. 

Virgil and Logan just glanced at each other, smiling subtly. No matter how much things changed… The more they seemed to stay the same.


	21. First day back

A fun weekend of catching up with his friends was just what he needed, them asking him all about what he did over the course of the summer in more detail than what he had been able to text them. They were able to just talk, laugh, and relax, having a great couple days before school on Monday. 

Roman had never looked forward to a year of school like he did to this one. Not only was he in the advanced theater class, but his very first class of the day was with Virgil, Patton, and Logan! He wasn’t sure how they’d gotten lucky enough to have another class where they were all together again! They all walked in on the first day together, still smiling and talking like they had been, and it seemed like nothing would be able to dampen their mood. Seemed. 

The four of them took seats near each other and kept conversing until the bell rang, which was when their teacher finally looked up. Her eyes swept the room and immediately stuck on Roman. 

“Oh, don’t tell me.  _Another_  Prince brother, right?” She laughed, looking him over. 

Roman was slightly taken aback, his friends all glancing to him to gauge his reaction. It seemed to click with all four of them at once that no one had ever recognized him at a glance before… But now, there was no denying he looked like the rest of his family. He swallowed slightly before responding. “Yep. That’s.. That’s me.” He answered awkwardly.

“I wasn’t expecting any more to come through my class! You have to be… What, the fifth? Are there going to be any others I should keep an eye out for?” She laughed softly.

He let out a little breath, trying to keep his cool. “…Yeah, I am. And, no. I’m the youngest.” 

“Ah, I see.” She nodded a bit, them all hoping that the pause in speaking meant she’d move on. But apparently, they weren’t that lucky. “So. What’s your thing?” 

Roman raised an eyebrow. “…My thing?” 

“Yeah. You had… Let me think. There was the artsy one. The smart one. …The twins were sporty, right? So what about you? What is it that you do?” 

“…Theater.” 

“Oooo! An actor? I wouldn’t have expected that one! What a wild card! I’ll have to check out the next play then, won’t I?” 

“If you.. Would like to, I guess.” Roman answered noncommittally, clearly very much wishing this conversation would end. 

Virgil was fuming in his seat. How dense could this woman be? Roman was so very obviously not interested in this conversation… Who would be? Honestly, in what world was this fun for anyone? He was trying to decide what to say, but before he could a sharp and fairly annoyed tone cut through the air. 

“Not to interrupt this  _exceptionally_ pertinent conversation, but perhaps you’d like to begin going over the syllabus so we can get on with the actual class?” Logan had an eyebrow raised as he looked back at the teacher with an expectant look on his face. He was very clearly over this. 

The teacher gave Logan a bit of a look as she picked up the clipboard to begin taking attendance, but he showed no sign of backing down. She didn’t seem pleased that this teenager had locked such a judging gaze on her even though the rest of the class was definitely glad to just get on with it already. Roman especially. Logan kept piercing eyes on her as she began calling out names, her obviously not happy that this serious teenager answered to the very first name she called. 

“Abernathy, Logan?” 

“ _Here_.” He answered, still obviously annoyed and not breaking his gaze until she moved onto the next name.

His three friends hadn’t expected the normally rather level headed teen to be the one to pull a move like that, Roman reaching over and giving him a soft pat on the shoulder in thanks before they all just put their heads down and got ready for class to actually begin.

Unfortunately, multiple of Roman’s classes went similarly when he first walked in. No other teacher seemed to know his family as well as the first did, he chocked it up to being a senior English class so the chance his brothers all had had the same teacher wasn’t too outlandish, but he definitely did get a good couple comments. He was definitely thankful that he had his drama class and a couple others where no commentary was made about his family at all. Especially in his theater class where everyone was surprised to see the amazing growth spurt that he’d had over summer. 

Even the reprieve of theater wasn’t quite enough to get him through the feeling he dreaded, and by Wednesday Virgil was definitely aware that this didn’t seem to be letting up. So he tagged along with Roman to head back to his house after school, the two of them going up to his room to hang out. They plopped down onto his bed, Virgil scooting over against him to tuck under his tall boyfriend’s arm - An action he never knew he’d be such a fan of until it became an option. 

Roman gave Virgil a slightly tired smile, wrapping his arm around him and holding him before letting out a little sigh and looking down at his feet. 

“…What’s on your mind, Ro?” Virgil asked, turning slightly in his hold to look up at him. 

“….I don’t know. It’s.. Nothing, I guess. I’m alright.” He shrugged, trying to wave it off. 

“Come on, babe. I know it’s not nothing. You’ve been down since Monday. I’m here if you want to talk about it.” He countered, bringing up his arms to wrap around his waist and pull him in more to him. 

Roman let out another little sigh, but also gave him an appreciative smile. “…I guess.. I never thought I’d… Look like them. The name thing was one thing, I’ve always gotten comments on the name. But now… Teachers don’t even need to see my name to know who I am… To know I’m one of them. I feel like I’ve always been the odd one out and I didn’t like it… But I didn’t realize that being included would mean that I’m part of the matched set.” Roman explained, taking frequent pauses as he figured out how to articulate his thoughts. 

“…Ro, you aren’t just part of a set. You’re you. You aren’t just a Prince, you aren’t just one of your brothers. You’re Roman and you always will be. You’re your own.” Virgil said softly, looking up at him. 

“…I just don’t like how they see me as this universal name. I don’t like that it comes with these preconceived ideas. And you heard the teacher, me having a ‘thing’ just makes me even more like them, somehow. Being good at something, looking like this, having this name… It’s just part of my family. It’s part of being an R. Prince.” Roman wilted slightly in his arms, leaning over more onto his smaller boyfriend. 

Virgil clutched him tighter, giving him a kiss to his temple before softly reaching up to cup his cheek and turn his head so he could look him in the eye. “Roman… I know this all sucks right now. But you know what else I know? You’re strong. You can get through this. All we have to do is make through this year and we won’t be in this school anymore where you are surrounded by all this. Once we’re done, you don’t have to deal with it anymore. It’ll stop.” Virgil gave him a little smile. “And, for the time being… No one important thinks of you as being the same as them. I know I don’t. And Logan and Patton definitely don’t. Your drama friends, the drama teacher… Half your teachers too. Even your brothers don’t think of you as just being some part of them. I know that ‘wait it out, it’ll get easier,  _those who matter don’t mind and those who mind_   _don’t matter’_ sounds like an after school special or a speech for trying to win Miss America… But it’s all we’ve got right now.” 

Roman had been taking Virgil’s words to heart, but the ending to his speech did coax a warm bark of laughter out of him as he squeezed his boyfriend in for another hug. “…Thanks, Miss America. That does makes me feel a little better.” 

“…I swear, if you start calling me Miss America…” Virgil playfully scowled, giving him a little shove. 

“You said it, I thought maybe that’s what you wanted.” Roman laughed, teasing. Even if he wasn’t completely convinced… Virgil had a knack for making him happy. And that was just what he needed at the moment. 

Luckily, Virgil was also pretty smart when it came to a lot of things. The first couple weeks went by and Roman really found that what Virgil had said made a lot of sense, him feeling lighter as the time went by. That and the fact that none of his teachers cared about who he was related to after the first day or so really did help him move past those initial uncomfortable feelings. He was actually focus on more important things for the time being: his friends, school, and the upcoming audition for the play. 


	22. The Lead

Roman was glad he had his audition to focus on, using that as a means to distract himself from the first couple weeks of school. Throwing himself into practicing his monologues and spending time with Virgil and their friends was really more than enough to take him right up to the day of the actual audition. And by the time that had happened, all of the weirdness with his teachers had passed and he was able to just move on from it.

It was only a couple weeks after the audition that found Virgil, Patton, and Logan waiting for Roman before school. They were just talking when one of them caught sight of him sprinting toward them, a smile spread across his face. He didn’t even take time to catch his breath when he stopped next to them, breathing heavily as he told them he’d gotten the lead in the play. They all congratulated him, Patton and Virgil both coming in for big hugs as he began explaining the play to them and how excited he was for it. 

Virgil was listening along with the other two as Roman explained, but he couldn’t help but continue to push down the feeling that his boyfriend’s growth spurt had a lot to do with his sudden jump from side character to lead actor. Roman really should have been getting these parts already, based on his talent alone… But it wasn’t something that would help anyone to bring up, and the last thing he wanted to do was dampen Roman’s mood… So he just let it go.

The four of them continued to meet up after school when they could to work on projects, Roman usually focusing more on his theater things than his coursework, which was yet another reason why they appreciated having Logan around to keep them on task. His play came up quickly, time just seemed to fly by for Roman when he was anticipating his performances. Next thing he knew it was opening night and he was walking right onto the stage to kick off the show.

Virgil, for the last time you guys he isn’t biased what are you talking about, definitely felt like this was the best play yet. Roman was a complete natural up on the stage, you just couldn’t take your eyes off of him. His stage presence was commanding, his confidence was undeniable, and it was clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was enjoying himself. They all watched on in delight, relishing how happy their boy was.

For the first time, when Roman had gotten cleaned up and came out to join his friends and family waiting for him in the foyer, Virgil just ran straight for him as soon as he saw his boyfriend approaching. He jumped up to throw his arms around Roman’s neck in a hug, smiling wide as he sailed right into his arms. Roman caught him easily and spun them around, hugging him tight and laughing. 

When they went back to school after the wrap up for the play, Roman expected his drama teacher to start up on what he was used to from his beginning and intermediate classes. Usually between plays they did a lot of improv games, sketches, and assorted acting exercises to improve on different areas of the craft. But apparently this wasn’t the case in advanced drama. 

They had taken their seats and their teacher moved up to the front of the room, looking over all of them. “Alright everyone, it’s time to get started on working on what we will be presenting for the theater competition. There are several categories in the competition as a whole, including set design, costume design, sound and lighting… But the big ones are for the performances. There’s best leading role and best overall performance, which our school has never won.” 

The teacher moved over to a side wall in the room, moving a few props and miscellaneous things that had been leaned up against it to reveal that there were a few ribbons and plaques hung there. “These are what we have won, at least one in every category besides the big two.” He gestured to them vaguely. 

Roman had never even noticed those prizes on the wall. Squinting from his seat, he could definitely tell there were names on them. …That didn’t sit right with him. Not even slightly. He shifted a bit in his seat, thinking over how much he knew things like that meant to him… Recognition and validation were things he felt like he’d been looking for for so long… Things he was trying not to get hung up on. And to see that these past students had earned that and no one knew? That felt… Uncomfortable. 

He tuned back into the teacher talking, seeing he was still explaining what sorts of things they would be able to present for the different categories and how that would be done. He paused and took a breath before continuing on, eyes sweeping over the students. “So, that’s how all of that works, I’ll be meeting with those of you interested in the back of house categories to discuss what we can do once we break. But as far as the performance portion, I was thinking with the talent that we have this year, we cou- ….Roman? Is something wrong?” 

Roman’s eyes snapped to focus, locking his gaze with his teacher’s. “Huh? What do you mean?” 

“…You’re making a face. Did you have something you wanted to say?” He asked, seeming concerned and not judging. Like he really wanted to know what had Roman so torn. 

Roman took a few moments to decide what to say, his eyes glancing side to side to his classmates before he spoke. “…Why are all of those past awards in here?” 

The teacher seemed surprised. “…What do you mean?” 

“Why are they in here where no one can see them? They should be out in the school. …Those victories are just as much of an accomplishment as any sports trophy. We should have them up so the names can be recognized. I.. I didn’t even know about those categories until you just told us about them. If they were up, like… Out in the school somewhere. People would see them and know about the hard work that went into them… Maybe even more students would do theater if they knew there was so much more to it than just the acting.” He said, keeping his eyes on the teacher. 

His teacher was definitely a bit thrown, not at all having expected that to be the response Roman gave. A good few of the students were also a bit surprised, only a couple of them having gotten close enough to Roman to learn about his family things over the years. It took the teacher a few good moments to respond. “…That is a good point, Roman. Maybe… I’ll see if I can get permission to put them up on a wall in the foyer. Probably after this year’s competition, so if… No,  _when_  we win more, we can put them all up together.” He smiled, looking back at the passionate student. 

Roman’s wide smile broke across his face, nodding happily. “Yeah. I think that’s perfect.” 

A collective positive murmur moved through the room, the student sitting next to Roman giving him a soft pat on the shoulder in agreement. The teacher waited for them to quiet down a bit more before speaking again. “Great! So like I was saying, I think with the talent we have this year, we should definitely enter the competition with a musical, rather than a regular play.” 

The whole class immediately turned their eyes on Roman, knowing that he was the main one being referenced. 

Roman smiled immediately at the idea, he was definitely happy with the plan seeing as musicals were his absolute favorite… And then he noticed everyone looking directly at him. “…what?” 

“You, Roman. You’re our leading man.” The teacher laughed, bringing his hands together in a single clap and clasping them together.

“Really? Me?!” Roman’s eyes widened.

The same friend to the side of him rolled her eyes and looked up at him. “Uh, duh, Ro? Obviously.”

Roman just blushed and laughed, looking back up at the teacher. “…Alright, um.. If you all think so… I’d be happy to do it.”

“Perfect! I think we finally have the right talent to put on a real show stopper, the leads will be crucial and have to be spot on… But if we can do this to the best of our ability… I think we will finally bring home a win for the school!” He explained, looking over all of them again. 

“…What show are you thinking of having us do?” Roman was still blushing, surprised that everyone was so sure about him. 

The teacher was still smiling and looking back at Roman with a glint in his eye. “Grease.”


	23. The Competition

The entire drama class was immediately talking amongst themselves, buzzing with excitement at the news of the show they’d be doing. Roman had obviously heard of the show, he knew he’d seen the movie… But he was going to have to do a little research. That week’s free time became dedicated to learning the songs and everything else he could find out about the play, also taking time to watch the movie a couple more times.

His parents were happy to watch the film with him downstairs on the big tv, even Ronnie joining in once he wandered by and saw what they were doing. Once they had all watched it together, Rich had popped up and rushed upstairs, leaving the three of them with confused expressions back in the living room. He was only gone for a couple minutes before they heard him come flying back down the hallway. 

Roman and Ronnie swore they heard Rose mutter something about how “ _it was no wonder all these boys had so much energy when this was how their father was…”_  as their Dad came skidding back into the living room with something in his hands. 

Rich was beaming from ear to ear, in a way that was not at all dissimilar to Roman, as he held out a black leather jacket to his youngest son. 

Roman’s eyes lit up, popping to his feet and pulling it on, finding it fit him beautifully. Even Ronnie had to admit it was perfect, though the words came out more as “….You are letting me do your hair tomorrow morning before you go to school.”  

Of course, Roman walking toward his group that next morning in his black pants, tucked in white shirt, leather jacket, and slicked back hair, drew some serious reactions. This was the first year he’d noticed so much female attention, but he just shrugged it off as he made his way toward his friends. 

Logan and Patton hadn’t seen Virgil freeze so thoroughly since the ‘ _Contact Lenses Incident_ ,’ so they knew Roman must have done something impressive if their emo friend suddenly cut himself off in the way he just had. They weren’t at all disappointed as they turned to see him in his full greaser attire, absolutely rocking it.

“Oh my goodness, Ro! You look amazing!” Patton clapped excitedly. 

“….This is quite a new look for you, Roman. But it definitely looks quite nice, no doubt you were well casted for the show.” Logan agreed, looking over his outfit. 

Roman thanked them both before stepping up to Virgil, sliding his arms over his shoulders and looking down at him. “What’s the matter, love? Cat got your tongue?” He teased.

Virgil blushed bright red and simply slid himself the rest of the way forward, hiding himself in his boyfriend’s chest to, unsuccessfully, attempt to save himself the embarrassment of how easy it was for Roman to fluster him. Roman just laughed, leaning in to kiss his boyfriend’s hair and holding him the rest of the time before school started. 

His theater class also really appreciated his look, even if they didn’t come close to Virgil’s reaction - which he was grateful for, and they set into working on what they’d be doing for their competition.

Roman learned that they wouldn’t be performing the entirety of the play for their entry, but they would be doing Grease for their school musical to make things easier on them overall. They had to decide which number they would enter with, and while the big duets were obviously some of the most iconic of the show, there was the concern that they wouldn’t have complete control of their set up at the actual competition. It wasn’t known how well they’d be able to make the stage seem like two separate areas to be able to perform ‘Summer Nights’ and ‘You’re the One That I Want’ also presented some unique challenges. 

At the urging of the female lead and the insistence of the tech team that they’d be able to create a workable prop, they decide to go with the clean version of ‘Greased Lightning,’ Roman felt bad that their Sandy was giving up a chance to go on for the competition, but the overall consensus was that as long as Roman could manage it, that would be their best bet. He hadn’t expected to be the only lead for the competition… But they were all counting on him. He could do it. 

Roman put his all into learning the song and the blocking, wanting to do his department and their school proud. While he was a bit upset that his friends and family wouldn’t be able to come to their competition, at least they’d see the piece once they performed the full play. 

It was all too soon before the actual competition, Roman trying to convince himself he had prepared as much as he possibly could and that everything was going to be just fine. They all rode over to a nearby university that Saturday, all of them making sure they new what time they all needed to be where. 

Roman had a blast walking around the competition, him realizing that the majority of his classmates were competing in multiple events. His teacher had had him focus so much on his part, he hadn’t had time to prepare for any others. Which was pretty nice on the one hand, it gave him time to walk around and see what everyone else was up to before he had to go on.

He was able to go around and see all kinds of things. He watched some of the monologues and single songs, spent a lot of time observing the tech events - teams working to set up lighting and sound sets for scenes that they hadn’t been told ahead of time, props crews having to find just the right prop amongst many, finding and identifying the right tools, improvising pieces from what they could find to fit their needs.. It was all just so impressive to him. He adored all that went into theater. 

His actual competition started up near the end of the day, him and the few chorus members he’d be working with getting ready backstage. They also had their tech crew with them, they’d be quickly assembling what they’d brought so they could perform their scene. They had constructed and painted the image of a car on wood panels that would be set up with steps behind it so they could appear to be walking on and jumping off the actual car. They’d practiced this so many times… He was ready. This was it. 

Roman had an absolute blast, all of his nervousness easing up just as he stepped onto the stage. This was his element. This was what he loved to do. It went without a hitch, him and the other boys doing their entire scene and song, moving around the car prop as though there really was a vehicle there. When Roman finished in his final pose and the crowd began to clap and cheer, he realized that this was why he did this. The rush, the fun, the crowd… In that moment it really struck home that this was what he wanted to do, recognition or not. 

The competition wrapped at the end of the day, everyone coming together to congratulate all the participants and give a round of applause for everyone. The votes would be tallied and awards sent out soon, all of the students departing with anticipation for who the victors would be.

-

It was the middle of the week at lunch after the competition had ended that Roman suddenly piped up to his friends. “Oh, hey. Are you guys gonna come to the talent show on Friday?” 

They all were surprised as they snapped their heads up from their food to look at him. It hadn’t gone well last year, none of them had expected Roman to want anything to do with it this year. And with how dedicated he’d been to perfecting his song for the competition… When did he find the time? Virgil finally responded. “…You signed up for the talent show?” 

Roman just smiled back. “Yup.” 

Patton looked back at his friend with a bit of concern. “We didn’t think you’d want t… What are you going to sing? Is it your song from the competition?”

He just smirked back at their surprised faces. “Nope. And i’m not telling. It’s a surprise.” 

The three of them pretty much lost their confusion as they transitioned into more concern about what he could be planning. 

There wasn’t anything they could really do though, so they filed into the theater that Friday to see the talent show along with the rest of the Prince family. Even the ballot didn’t say exactly what Roman was planning, simply listing [Song Cover] next to his name rather than the title. They really weren’t sure what this was all going to be about until they finally heard his name announced.

“Next up is last year’s winner! Roman Prince!” A murmuring came from the crowd, some of them definitely remembering the small boy with the amazing voice who shocked them all the previous year. Whispers only increased as the tall boy walked out, going right to the mic stand. Instead of adjusting it this year, he simply took the mic into his hand and pushed the stand off to the side, out of his way. Everyone seemed a bit surprised as he did so, the music not starting up until he made his way back to center and had gestured to someone off stage that he was ready.

Virgil was sure he saw his boyfriend shoot a little smirk right at him before the music began, big dramatic blares alerting the room to what was about to happen just before Roman swung the mic right to his mouth and let out a long, gorgeous note.   
_

“ _Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!_  
I could feel it from the start  
Couldn’t stand to be apart  
Something ‘bout ya caught my eye  
Something moved me deep inside  
Don’t know what ya did, boy, but you had it  
And I’ve been hooked ever since  
Told my mother, my brother, my sister, and my friends  
Told the others, my lovers, both past and present tense  
That every time I see you everything starts making sense!

 _Ain’t no other man that can stand up next to you_  
Ain’t no other man on the planet does what you do  
You’re the kinda guy a girl finds in a blue moon  
You got soul, you got class, you got style, you’re badass  
Ain’t no other man, it’s true   
Ain’t no other man but you!”  
_

The whole crowd was living for Roman’s performance, watching as the confident teen strutted across the stage as he sang. Virgil was blushing bright red, the whole Prince family and his two friends looking over at him, it very clear who Roman had dedicated this number to. He was sinking into his hoodie, trying to ignore that he could definitely feel their eyes on him.

He kept his eyes forward on his amazing, wonderful, embarrassing boyfriend, definitely somehow getting even redder as he finished his performance and blew a kiss into the audience. The room erupted into claps as he walked off stage, Virgil willing himself not to exist. 

“…Did anyone else feel like he pointed at me when he said ‘ _my sister_?’ I swear he did…” Virgil vaguely heard Ronnie asking the group, but he was still quite focused on becoming one with his hoodie. 

Patton was giggling up a storm next to him, softly nudging his shoulder. “Come on, Virge! That was so sweet! Come back out of your hoodie.”

“I can’t. I don’t exist. Nope. I’m not real.” Virgil murmured from inside the material. 

Patton’s face lit up, not that Virgil could see it from where he was, and his voice dropped into his ‘I’m about to subject you to an awful joke’ tone. “…I thought your name was Virgil  _Moore_  not Virgil  _no-more_!” 

Virgil groaned loudly. “…. _Patton. Why.”_

The show ended and they once again all waited for Roman out in the foyer. He appeared after a short bit, Virgil immediately pulling his new signature move of ‘ _face-chesting_ ’ directly into his boyfriend and just trying to hide against him. 

His boyfriend was already laughing as he brought his arms up to hold him. “What’s wrong, love?” 

Virgil only sighed.“You… Are a gay disaster.” 

“I know.” 


	24. A Legacy

Roman had been doing a lot of thinking since the competition and the talent show. Trying to work out his entire… Deal. He thought he had figured it out a few years ago, coming to terms with how he didn’t think he’d ever be like his brothers. He didn’t look like them, and that was fine. He wasn’t talented like them, and that was fine. …But then, it wasn’t. Now.. He was. He did look like them… He actually did have a talent. Part of him honestly didn’t know if this was better or worse.

Was he trying to be separate? It wasn’t that he didn’t like his brothers, or didn’t want to be associated with them. It was… Weird. He supposed that the answer he came up with was something along the lines of… He didn’t like how they were all lumped together. Him and his family were treated like a single entity for some reason. When in reality, they were all so different. Why was it that this recognition thing bothered him so much, though? 

When he got the chance, he found himself walking by the accolades left behind by his siblings. The valedictorian banner, the mural, the trophies… What did they even matter when they were basically credited under the same name? This… It was this that he didn’t want. He decided.. He decided that he wanted to do something. He was going to be someone… He was going to be Roman. He’d make sure of it. 

He hadn’t really shared any of these thoughts with anyone else, his brothers never seemed to really be bothered by these things, and he didn’t want to put it on his friends. Nothing really made it past Virgil, though. They spent so much time together and he just knew him so well… But he was honest when he told him that he’d talk to him when he’d figured out how to explain. 

With the last musical coming up, along with the end of high school in general, he had plenty of other things to occupy his attention anyway. There were rehearsals, finals, papers… Only one of those things did he truly care about, but Logan didn’t let him get lazy on his school work. It was something he was truly grateful for…. Somewhere deep down.

It was because of all of this that he’d sort’ve forgotten about the talent show, especially since he had only done that song for fun. And maybe to tease his boyfriend a little… And let a few of the girls who’d been paying more attention to him know that they had the wrong idea. He’d done it almost entirely for fun, at least. So when his drama teacher asked if he’d been in the foyer since the show, he realized he hadn’t even thought to go look. 

This wasn’t going to bother him this time, he’d decided. This wasn’t going to be like last year. He sent a quick text to his friends to let them know that he’d be stopping by the foyer after school, them all quickly responding they’d meet him there. Roman almost laughed, realizing they had to all be preparing for a repeat of the previous time. But.. He could handle this. 

At the end of the day, he left his theater class and made a slow walk to the foyer, mentally preparing for being part of this weird R. Prince clump yet again. He only hesitated slightly when he placed a hand on the door, pushing it open and walking over to the place that the sign had been since last year. Sure enough, it had been replaced with a new one, but his name… That name was still at the top. Rather than getting upset, he simply let his lips settle into a bit of a sassy pout before sighing and turning away from it. It was nice to have won, he was proud of his voice… But honestly, he needed to have a talk with whoever made these dumb things. 

He glanced up, ready to try and find anything to draw his attention from the sign behind him while he awaited his friends. It was then that something caught his eye, his feet instinctively moving him toward it, but his mind had gone completely blank at the sight.

Virgil, Patton, and Logan were all power walking toward the foyer, not wanting to leave Roman alone with what they knew was in there. He was stronger than before, but they still had no intention of being anywhere but by his side as he encountered this again. They pushed the doors open and quickly saw the sign, verifying that it still read R. Prince as the winner of the talent show. They didn’t immediately see Roman, which was a cause for concern, but suddenly Patton spoke up. 

“…Ro?” He asked, causing the other two to turn and see their tallest friend, his back to them. 

He didn’t answer, still staring forward. They quickly moved to his side to see what he was looking at, seeing that the previously blank wall was now covered in small plaques and ribbons. They were all shined and pristine, bearing the names and titles won by students of prior years. But that wasn’t what had Roman so frozen. 

In the center of the wall, just in front of Roman, was the largest of all the plaques. It was made of deep cherry wood, with a candid shot of Roman taking up the entire top half. He was in the middle of his performance, a perfect shot of him obviously singing with all he had and completely enjoying himself. Below the image was an engraved metal plate, and there were two additional rounded plates below that. The group slowly moved in closer, reading the words that were carved into the metal. 

While the one below the picture simply had the name of the competition and the year, the two rounded ones were what really caught their attention. The one to the left proudly proclaimed the school’s big win, showing off the award for “ _Best Performance: Greased Lightning - Grease_.” The one to the right was reflecting the low sunlight, making it shine brighter than the rest of the plaque, but all of them were still able to make out the words ” _Best Leading Role: Roman R. Prince, Danny Zuko - Grease_ “ in large lettering. 

They were all as silent as Roman for a moment, before Patton and Virgil could no longer contain the excitement from reading Roman’s name and they just had to turn their attention to congratulating him. Logan had leaned a bit closer, reading the placard that had been attached to the wall just underneath the official plaque. It was clearly a note added by the drama teacher, which read, “ _Not only do we have Roman to thank for our school’s first ever performance wins, he was also the driving force behind this wall of awards. He insisted that all this department’s past accomplishments be shared for everyone to see, and thanks to him, we will continue to add to this wall for many years to come_.”

Logan finally looked up at Roman, who’d somewhat snapped out of his trance once he suddenly had the two other boys hugging and excitedly congratulating him. He was completely red in the face, obviously proud of his accomplishment, but still blushing a bit from the praise. But there was something else there… Something Logan could only describe as relief. 

Roman was smiling from ear to ear, finding that both Virgil and Patton had wrapped their arms around him and he was now pulling them both in close before he looked up to share a soft expression with Logan. He… He hadn’t expected this. But this was… His. Not just the initials he shared, not even just his own name. It was him. Completely and utterly, undeniably him. This was what he wanted. This was what he’d worked for. 

This was his legacy. And it was only the beginning. 


End file.
